Blurred Lines
by majik7
Summary: He'd hadn't felt normal since Alaska. Strange dreams, and this weird feeling plagued him ever since. His sister told him that 'they' would be there for him in her place. After Lucy kissed him, Kazuya felt it too. The only bad part... is explaining it to the girls that had transcended. Kazuya x legendary and transcedent harem.
1. Strange dreams

**Before we begin, let me start by saying this. Up until the joint op with the valkyries where shit hits the fan, things are going to be jumpy. And Kazuya is the main focus, so the points of conflict with the girls may be mentioned, but if he wasn't there, then it'll be potentially glossed over.**

 **AND NOW**

 **BEGIN!**

Ever since the Alaska incident, where Chiffon Fairchild died, Kazuya had been having strange dreams.

It wasn't too uncommon for his dreams to be about the days when his sister Kazuha was still alive. But the ones she was a part of now seemed…different somehow.

The only way he could put words into the feeling, was like he was having a lucid dream. He knew he was dreaming, but in all honesty, that just made him want to hold on to this experience all the more.

He would be sitting at the island in the kitchen of the house the two of them used to live in. Kazuha, standing over the stove cooking some breakfast for them, would reminisce about the times they had together.

it was a little strange, looking at her, seeing that he was now just as tall as she was. But that was just a small tidbit in the back of his mind. Here she was, his sister, the person he loved than anything in this world. The person who had taken care of him for as long as he could remember.

And the conversations they had, each dream Kazuha would be cooking and talking about old times, and during the meal she would ask him about his current life.

How he was doing at West Genetics.

Who he made friends with.

Which girls he had an eye for.

This last dream however, hadn't gone the same way.

Kazuya, realizing that he would be waking up soon, pushed the plate of food away to regard his sister.

That same, warm and disarming smile on her face. Looking as beautiful as ever with the sun pouring through the window behind her.

Kazuha glanced up from her plate, spoonful of milk and cereal in her mouth, and a questioning look in her eye.

Kazuya felt a lump try and rise in his throat, and the words he'd wanted to say to her for the years she had been gone were finally given release.

"I miss you."

When she finished her bite, stood up and started to walk around towards him, Kazuya felt the stinging in his eyes that she must have seen.

Standing next to him, she spun his chair to her, cupped each side of his face with her thumbs gently caressing against his cheeks. Her touch took the energy he had to keep himself upright, and leaned his forehead to her chest.

Lifting his eyes to hers, Kazuya saw the pained and regretful look that she had the same day she left to fight the very Nova that killed her. When she didn't say anything, he let the rest of what had tormented his mind come out.

"I love my friends. Satellizer, Rana, Arthur, Kaho. They're all great people."

The lump returned stronger, with the more of his emotions he relayed.

"But they're not you. The only family i've ever really had. I know its stupid and selfish, but I always wondered…What if I had been able to convince you to stay home that day. How many would have died in your place? How many could you have saved afterwords? And the worst part… even if I knew for certain how many there would be, I know i'd choose having you around."

When the sting in his eyes became too strong, and the tears fell, Kazuha pulled her brothers head closer to her, wanting him to let his clear his conscience.

Kazuya wrapped his arms around her waist as his shoulders started to shake.

"I miss you too Kazuya." The soft melodic voice of Kazuha reached his ears as he started to calm down.

"I love you so much. If there had been any other way, i'd still be with you. But it had to be this way. I know you don't understand it yet, but soon you will. When you wake up, truly wake up, not just from sleep….you'll understand, and they'll be by your side the entire way. They will love you every bit as much as I do, maybe even more in one or two cases."

Kazuya cast his a confused look through the recent shed tears.

 _'who is she talking about?'_

"You'll meet them soon enough. Until then… unfortunately… This is goodbye."

Bending down, Kazuha planted a kiss on his forehead, and tilted down to press hers against him.

"Once you wake up, we can talk again."

 **Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep**

Kazuya woke to the blaring annoyance of his alarm clock.

quickly slapping his hand on it to stop the noise, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"It all just felt so real.." He muttered, recalling the dreams and their details with great clarity, something that with a normal dream he couldn't do after more than a minute of being awake.

 **-LineBreak-**

As the days continued, the dreams of his deceased sister stopped, just as she said they would.

The new oddity in Kazuya's life had nothing to with sleep this time. at any given time, Kazuya would suddenly get a strange feeling that pulsed through his entire body. Sometimes, it felt like he was made of metal, and was being pulled towards a magnet. Or he would feel like there was a memory or conversation just on the edge of being able to be recalled.

All in all, it was frustrating.

The more often that 'the pull' happened, as he had started referring to it as, Kazuya started to realize that it towards people….more specifically, women.

The first was with Satellizer, which wasn't really much different than how he felt around her normally. The first time he saw the blonde beauty, Kazuya had been instantly drawn to her, confusing her for Kazuha.

And then Rana had walked into the room, and he felt the same exact pull with her that he did with Satellizer. That was both new and confusing. He'd liked Rana, she was gorgeous young woman, and a great friend. But that pull had never been there before.

Kazuya started to question his own moral compass, when during the fight between Ticy Phenyl and Arnett McMillan, he could feel himself being pulled in four directions. Satellizer, Rana, Arnett and Ticy were all getting the same response from him.

'What the hell is happening to me? I've never been the type to go after multiple girls.' He thought.

Sure, they were all extremely good looking. But that wasn't how he normally was, and he knew next to nothing about Ticy or Arnett… Which only added to his concern.

With no answers being given to him, Kazuya thought it best to just keep observing the strange things that seemed to keep coming his way.

Everything and everyone around him started to be dulled in black and white after the announcement that a new project demonstration was announced to be coming soon.

The rumor that his grandfather, Gengo Aoi was going to be on campus to personally supervise it, did not makes matters any better.

As far as Kazuya was concerned, the less contact he had with the man, the better.

But the part of his mind that was just on the brink of recalling something had flared up once more. And the only thing that he could manage to get out of the haze, was that his grandfather would know exactly what was happening to him.

But considering that Gengo Aoi was the sole reason that the pandora existed in the first place, it really didn't surprise him to have thought that way.

If only he could get confirmation of when he'd be here…the sooner this was out of the way, the sooner Kazuya could go to ignoring the existence of the man that put Kazuha on her path to destruction.

But who could he ask?

Three names popped into his mind, one of them probably wouldn't share information even if it were true. And the other two, probably wouldn't because it could put their job in jeopardy , as well as being very tedious.

Maybe if he could describe it as being potentially family oriented, Kazuya could get his first choice to give him some sort of information. It was worth a shot.

And so, Kazuya set out to Sister Margaret's office after the last class had let out for the day.

 **-LineBreak-**

"And just why would I share information with a student, related to the person in question or not, about a rumored arrival?" Sister Margaret stated flatly.

Just as he had thought, she wouldn't be willing right off the bat. He just hoped that his reasoning would do enough.

"I have a concern that I believe is related to a family medical trait."

Kazuya's answer did nothing to persuade the nun to give in, she merely kept her even expression, giving him no hints as to what she may be thinking.

"If you have concerns of a medical nature, you could always go to the school infirmary, Elize Shmitz is as good as they come."

With a heavy sigh, Kazuya shook his head.

"aside from some less then restful nights, there's nothing I can say that's medically wrong."

"Then I do not see a reason to share potentially dangerous information with a student, all Chevalier members are potential high risk targets. It would not do for me to place any high rank members in un-needed danger."

Seeing he was getting nowhere, Kazuya decided to just drop the subject and be on his way.

"I see. Thank you for time Headmistress." Kazuya said respectfully, before leaving the office and making his way back to the dorms.

Once Kazuya was out of the office, Sister Margaret waited for a few minutes, then started to type out a message to the very person that would be coming to her academy the very next morning.

 _You're grandson has heard rumor of your arrival, and wanted an audience with you to discuss something about his stigmatic body. After the presentation tomorrow, I suggest the two of you meet to see what his concerns are._

With the message sent, the head of West Genetics leaned back into her chair as she spun it to the window overlooking the campus.

"That family always brings new trials." She sighed as she caught sight of the boy that had just, walking towards the dorms.

 **-LineBreak-**

The last 24 hours had left Kazuya feeling a bit drained. Last night, when he was returning to his dorm, he'd run into Rana. She had asked him to do something for her, to which he'd agreed before he really thought about what it might be.

It turned out that she had wanted a massage, which that in itself wasn't an unreasonable request. The issue came when she sat up and turned, planting his hands just below her breasts.

That was the moment that Satellizer walked into his dorm. And she'd stormed out, angry that he'd apparently wanted to fondle Rana more than be with her.

The guilt over what she must have thought of the situation was a heavy weight on his mind. Among the other things that had been plaguing him, that he hadn't been able to convey to anyone yet.

How could he? When he couldn't even really out into words what he was feeling. The only words he could use to describe it, would make it sound like he was trying to seduce multiple pandora, and that wasn't it at all.

He sat in the stands of the arena used for demonstrations, Rana next to him, looking for Satellizer among the other people.

Even the strange new ability he seemed to have wasn't able to help him at the moment, which only told him that she was too far to feel the pull towards her.

The announcement came over the speakers, that this was a demonstration of a new project to fight for the sake of humanity against the Nova.

Only a few moments passed before the sound of a helicopter approaching started getting louder and louder, those gathered in the West Genetics arena looked from the dummy S-type Nova in the center towards where the sound was coming from.

And then, he started to feel it again… The pull.

It started as it had before, just that small little tug on his mind, wanting him to look in one particular direction.

But as the helicopter approached closer and closer, the pull got stronger and stronger.

And as the helicopter stilled itself in the air above the Dummy Nova, Kazuya was feeling like he was about to pulled out of his seat and into the air, towards whoever was inside of it.

'What in the hell is going on.' He thought, holding onto his seat to help relieve the feeling.

The door of the helicopter slid open, and a few shadows could be seen at its edge. And then they jumped, falling towards the earth.

The first three weren't the ones causing his near panic, they felt no different to him than a normal woman on the street.

It was the forth one that immediately had his attention.

All he could see through the sunlight when she jumped, was the long silver hair. Everything else about the demonstration was lost on him, he could only focus on the silver haired girl.

As the silver haired girl landed on the ground, deploying some sort of new tech to let them glide down to the ground, Kazuya could feel an almost imperceptible pull from whoever had just jumped out of the chopper.

But his attention was solely on the silver haired girl.

Who was she? Why did she have such an effect on him?

This changed the way he thought of this feeling. It clearly wasn't related to girls he knew, or had some sort of hidden attraction towards. Because the girl in the arena wouldn't have looked anything out of the ordinary based on her figure alone. No….This was something different. It was like whenever his sister came home.

She could open the door, with him on the complete other side of the house, and he would know she'd returned. Kazuha's mere presence pulled him in. It felt eerily like that….in fact, it was….exactly like that.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kazuya caught sight of the last girl to jump to the ground use an access type move and kill off the dummy. The crowd was a mix of cheering at the display and shock at what these "normal" girls had done.

But his thoughts still ran away from the scene.

Was it possible that each of the girls he felt a pull towards had something in common with his sister? He knew that Rana didn't have any of her Stigmata, so that wasn't it. Something else maybe?

"PROJECT VALKYRIE!" He heard announced as the girls in the arena stood side by side.

The names were being announced as each girl took off their helmet.

"Tiziana Ferrari, Christine Evora, Franka Porsche." He watched as the girl just next to the one he couldn't take his eyes off of removed her helmet.

The silver haired girl brought her hands up to her face, on the slips that kept it locked in place.

"LUCY RENAULT!" The voice called, and she pulled the mask away.

Time seemed to slow down as Kazuya watched, as her face came into view, it being burned into his memory.

Silver hair, with a slight purple hue to it. Deep lavender eyes that gave away no emotions. Symmetrical face, almost too perfect to be human. No blemishes on her skin to be seen.

She was beautiful, there was no denying that. But to Kazuya, who had since coming to West Genetics, come into contact with girls that made the worlds top models look hideous, there wasn't a reason why he felt the way he did.

He watched as she scanned the crowd with her stoic gaze.

'Is she looking for someone?' He thought.

A girl like that would definitely have a significant other. It continued to move, getting closer and closer to his position.

And that was where it stopped.

Exactly where he was sitting, directly into his eyes even. And the pull renewed itself as a small smirk crossed her face. A victorious 'I found you' grin.

"OUKA HONDA!" Was the last name called, and Kazuya pulled his attention away from this Lucy Renault.

Black hair, with a white ribbon on the left side just below her earlobe. The same dark eyes he himself had.

'Ouka?' What was his cousin doing here of all places?

There was no doubt about it. Aside from being more developed than the last time he saw her, this was undoubtedly his cousin on his mothers side. Ouka Tenjouin. The use of a fake last name was curious as well.

"WOW! Kazuya, that was amazing wasn't it?!" He heard Rana chirp excitedly next to him. He gave her a look and smile to show he was listening.

"Certainly was. I wonder why now though, so soon after the E-Pandora project had all that bad publicity. The Chevalier must be scramming to bring their public image back up." He stated thoughtfully.

And then his attention was right back where it was before. A quick glance towards Ouka, and significantly more time on Lucy. He needed to figure out what this feeling was.

He needed to talk to his Grandfather, to Gengo Aoi.

 **-LineBreak-**

Platoon 13.

That was where Kazuya had been reassigned to. Gone were the days that he would attend classes as a normal 1st year student.

He was now a part of some sort of specialized squad, hand picked because he was supposedly a step above the rest.

So here he was. Waiting. Even though he was standing with the two girls that he'd come to truly care for, Rana and Satellizer, as the door opposite them opened, Kazuya couldn't keep his eyes on anything but one of the figures walking through it.

"Hello! It's nice to finally meet you!" The pink haired girl, Franka Porsche he recalled her name being. Greeted them excitedly.

She was walking with three of the other members of the valkyrie team.

Christine Evora, walked to her left, Blonde hair made into drill pig tails. Fairly tall, A bust that would make most normal women envious. But no pull from her. Her face held a look of half disinterest, half reluctance to even be in the same room as the Genetics students.

Tiziana Ferrari, looking in her direction was a potential danger. She had _the_ largest breasts Kazuya had ever seen. The gentle smile on her face, the kind acceptance in her olive green eyes, made her as easy on the eyes as any girl had ever been. But once again, no pull.

The one who had all of Kazuya's attention was once again, Lucy Renault.

"Wah!" Kazuya yelped in surprise as he was suddenly face to face with the face of Franka, She took ones of his hands in both of hers and was shaking it enthusiastically.

"You're Dr. Aoi's Grandson right? You're Kazuya Aoi!" Her happy expression turned into a slight predatory grin, a little drool coming from the corner of her mouth.

"L-Let me…Do some _thorough_ research on you sometime okay?"

'She's freaking me out a little…' He thought, trying to back away from the valkyrie.

"You, wanna research me?"

Thankfully, another voice cut through the group and stopped Franka from going much further.

"You're being too forward again Franka."

Christine walked forward to where her teammate was, dissuading her from dissecting the young man.

She continued as everyone there looked towards her.

"We're not even officially teammates yet."

Kazuya, Rana and Satellizer did their best to not let the blonde Valkyries haughty attitude get to them too much. They'd come across plenty of those types at West Genetics before.

"Eeh? But agreed that we'd be friendly with them, right?" Franka questioned with a surprisingly childish tone.

"Yes, we did. But what you're doing is borderline harassment."

Kazuya trailed off in thought, not deeming this particular conversation to be at all involved with him anymore.

'So, they want it to look like we're working well together, but ultimately that's all it is… a show for the higher ups.' He thought. It sounded so much like something his grand father would do to get a budget approved for some project he had in mind further down the line.

Question was… is that _really_ the bottom line? Or was the Valkyrie project what Gengo Aoi seriously hoped would be the saving grace of mankind.

Kazuya watched with a detached sense of what was being said as Christine taunted Satellizer about the Valkyries having the member with the biggest breasts. Apparently Tiziana was an F cup.

'I know i've never spent much time around women before coming here, but I never really thought that girls were that concerned with comparing breast size.'

"That's enough of that Christine, no need to make us look bad." A new voice called out from the corner behind everyone.

"Don't mind them too much, they like to joke around. Although they're fooling around can go a bit overboard sometimes."

The woman voice was coming from a shadowed doorway, she spoke as she approached the sunlight.

"It's been a while hasn't it? Four…no, five years now, Kazuya Onii-Sama."

Out of the Shadows, walked his cousin Ouka. it was a lot easier to see how she'd matured now that they were within just a few meters of each other. her hair grown down to the middle of her back, the same ribbon tied in her hair. She was just a tad shorter than Kazuya was himself.

If things had been different, he might not have objected to the way their family was trying to put them together, she was a very attractive girl.

"Is this girl really your little sister Kazuya?" Rana asked as she looked between the two, and saw that there was some similar features.

Satellizer had a surprised look on her face, upon hearing how Ouka referred to Kazuya.

"Ouka's my cousin on my mothers side. We're the same age, but she's always treated me like an older brother."

Kazuya and Satellizer watched as gears turned in Rana's head, rationalizing the situation. She seemed to come to a conclusion as she approached Ouka.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Rana Linchen, and Kazuya is my soul mate, so I guess that'll eventually make us sisters!"

'That little schemer, she's trying to score points right in front of me!' Satellizer thought with her mouth hanging open.

The stern blank look that Ouka had, turned more into confusion at what she was hearing. She glanced from Rana to Kazuya.

"Is that some sort of joke? I'm appalled Onii-Sama, being in a relationship like that with these Pandora." Ouka walked passed Rana, towards Kazuya, stopping just within arms reach.

Her voice softened, the valkyries furthest away could just barely manage to pick up her words.

"I know you were devastated by Kuzuha Onee-Sama's death. I know that you needed to find something to replace that void. But i'm here now, i've returned to your side Onii-Sama."

Kazuya's eyes took an uncomfortable look, knowing just where she was going with this. And it was something he'd chosen to ignore for the last few years.

"I, Ouka Tenjouin, your fiancee, have returned to you."

A stunned and confused silence took over the arena, as the girls took in this new piece of information.

"You're…his fiancee?" Rana muttered. "So, when you little, the two of you were set to be married?"

Ouka merely nodded, a look of determination to protect her position in Kazuya's life.

"That's right. Kazuya Aoi, is the man who is to become my husband, and I his wife."

Franka tilted her head and spoke to Tiziana.

"I know that the worlds population has taken quite the plunge…But is it really okay for cousins to get married? I suppose if Dr. Aoi ran a DNA compatibility test between them…"

The Valkyries turned back to their teammate, who was ramping up.

"And now that you're aware, i'd appreciate it if you would stay away from him. Kazuya Onii-Sama is mine."

Satellizer turned to Kazuya, looking for him to say or do something. Anything. Thankfully he was one step ahead of her.

"Ouka. Stop." His tone was stern, making it clear that he was serious. But it still carried that same undertone of caring in it.

And like flipping a switch, Ouka stood there, her mouth closing to leave the rest of her comments unsaid.

"I refuse to let him do to me, to us, what he did to Kazuha." Kazuya closed his eyes, as a wave of an unusual emotion flowed through his veins. Rage.

His hands clenched as his body shuddered, looking like he could hardly contain himself.

"He used her….And it ended up costing her life."

Ouka looked towards her fiancee with sympathy, knowing that he held Professor Aoi responsible. He couldn't see passed the fact of Kazuha being made a Pandora because of a deal she made with him. A deal that she set the terms for.

"Oh good you guys are already here!" Instructor kim called out as she and two other teachers made their way towards the group, ignoring the fact that it felt like a somewhat hostile environment at the moment.

"Once the rest of the team gets here, we'll begin!"

 **-LineBreak-**

Kazuya walked along the sidewalk of the campus, making his way towards back to his own dorm.

It had been a rough few days, ever since the formation of the new team between pandora and valkyries.

Along with Satellizer and Rana. The Chevalier had sent some of the pandora that were with them in Alaska.

Roxanne Elipton, Charles Bonaparte, Cassie Lockheart.

These Pandora cadets, together with the Valkyries were to be working together, and would have a joint test operation tomorrow.

The operation itself was something that Kazuya welcomed, or he would if the team hadn't been tearing itself apart.

Charles Bonaparte had been making waves among the other Pandora of West Genetics, holding a grudge over what happened in Alaska. She'd sent Attia Simmons to the infirmary with a variety of injuries that would keep her there for quiet some time.

Then Arnett showed up with Cleo and Ingrid to take revenge for Charles did to Attia. No one was sure what would have happened if Satellizer hadn't tried to step in, slowing things down enough so that when the fight started to break out, Ticy arrived just in time to put both Arnett and Charles down on the ground.

So Charles wasn't speaking to anyone on their new team outside of when it was required.

Satellizer was upset that she hadn't been able to stop the fight, and that Arnett, who she'd just become friends with, was pissed at which side she'd taken.

The other pandora had felt awkward with the atmosphere around them. The valkyrie looked like they were mainly just focused on preparing themselves for the upcoming chance to prove themselves, although Lucy looked as unemotional as she ever did.

Kazuya catch her a few times looking in his direction, with an expression that he couldn't quite place. He could tell when she was looking at him, because the pull would flare up for a brief time.

It would have been almost a normal week if the events had stopped there, but it hadn't.

Kazuya had finally gotten in contact with his Grand father. And had tried to steer the conversation towards his concerns over what was happening to his body. But as soon as the video call connected, Gengo led the conversation and derailed Kazuya's thoughts.

He asked how he thought about the way his fiancee looked now. And tried to play innocent that the engagement wasn't by his design or order.

Kazuya tried to push his own thoughts on the matter, and Gengo asked if there was another woman in Kazuya's life. That had led to Gengo requesting to meet the girl that had managed to grab his attention, and have dinner with him the next night.

And what had started out as a polite and inquisitive conversation had turned into borderline sexual harassment. Gengo made a point to make observations of Satellizers body, saying that Kazuya was interested in her because of her breasts, or her long blonde hair, or just the way that she seemed almost inhumanly symmetrical and proportioned.

So he walked Satellizer to the train station, apologized for the way his grand father had acted, and they parted ways with a promise to see each other tomorrow.

Gengo had quickened the pace of his drinking while Kazuya had been gone, and was pretty well drunk once he returned.

"Do you hate me for the decisions i've made?" Gengo had asked him, catching Kazuya off guard at the change of topic.

Kazuya could only ask what he meant by that, unsure if they were _finally_ going to come to some sort of resolution about Kazuha's death.

"For your sister. One way or another, the things i've done brought her life to an end. The things in between hardly matter."

Kazuya watched as his grand father's red cheeks tightened in apparent self loathing.

"If it could fix everything, i'd trade her life for mine in a heartbeat. I've hated myself for those choices since that day… I've hated myself so much that I thought of just ending it all."

Gengo stood up and ran a hand along his bookshelf, swaying from the alcohol.

"I hated it…But I couldn't bring myself to regret it… Because regretting it would only lower Kazuha's actions…. And that's not…acce…..ptable…"

And that was when he passed out and knocked a photo album to the floor.

One particular picture in it caught his attention.

Because it had what appeared to be Chiffon Fairchild in it. But that couldn't have been possible, because it was dated 40 years ago. The photo was ripped so only one other girl could be seen, but there were five female bodies in total on it.

The Pandora of Lab 13 - it had written on it.

Kazuya stopped contemplating the last few days events as he felt the pull again. And with as strong as it was building as he walked, he knew there could only be one person that was near him.

Kazuya looked up towards the bright full moon that peeked just over one of the towers of the dorm buildings. And standing on the peak of the tower was the silver haired mystery, Lucy Renault.

"Lucy?" He wondered how she got up there, and why.

And almost faster than he could interpret, she was standing in front of him.

The sudden feeling of the pull increasing in magnitude made him lurch forward towards her, until he caught his balance. This was the closest he'd been to her, just out of arms reach. Which was a good thing, because he wasn't sure just what this feeling was capable of making him do.

"That was amazing, you moved just like Chiffon-senpai! It looked like you vanished!" Kazuya said to her, making sure to keep his hands at his sides.

Lucy tilted her head slightly. "Chiffon Fairchild?" her tone was only a bit more emotional than usual.

"Yeah. I shouldn't be surprised you know her name, she was a world ranked Pandora…Although "The Smiling Monster" wasn't really an appropriate nickname for someone like her." Kazuya chuckled as he recalled just how happy Chiffon seemed to be all the time. A diamond in the rough, comparing her to a good portion of the other personalities here at West Genetics.

"Chiffon is…..my sister." She said, taking a step forward towards Kazuya.

"And you Kazuya…"

"Sorry, but i'm not sure what you're talking-" Kazuya started to ask what she meant by that, before she started on something else.

"The reason humans rely on words to transmit their wills, is because they are trapped in a familiar system. It's impossible to truly understand one another that way."

Kazuya was lost on what she was talking about. "Um…"

"Can you feel it Kazuya?" Lucy took another step closer, inwardly smiling when he didn't step back, or make any movement that suggested he was uncomfortable with what they were both feeling at the moment.

"Something that surpasses your own consciousness. An other worldly existence _pulling_ the strings." Kazuya's eyes widened when she stressed the word _pull_.

He didn't even notice that she'd taken another step closer, and was now only a step and a half away. His undivided attention was on Lucy and what she was saying.

"have you ever wondered, why the Nova enlarge themselves so much? Why they ended up fighting the intelligent life form of this dimension?"

Lucy moved so that now they were only inches away from each other. Her hand resting on his chest, ready to hold him in place if need be. She was determined to see how close he was to awakening, or help push him over the edge.

"Humans chose not to listen, to the medium known as Maria, that came to them. They ignored what she was saying."

"Are….Are you telling me you feel the pull too? That you understand it?" Kazuya asked uncertainly. He hoped, prayed that was the case. To have someone who knew, who understood this feeling would be beyond amazing.

The pull felt like it had stopped, and the sensation of a memory being just beyond him replaced it. But it was at an intensity that he hadn't experienced before. It wasn't unpleasant, it didn't hurt or give him a headache. It just directed his attention towards Lucy, specifically into her eyes. Deep lavender eyes that seemed to hold knowledge that was beyond basic human understanding.

"You're so close to breaking through the barrier. So close to knowing what we know, seeing what we see." Lucy stopped and thought about what she was about to do for a moment. Kazuya saw that something was on her mind, could tell it was important, whatever it was.

But before he could ask about it, her hand on his chest tightened on his shirt, and the other cupped the back of his head and pulled his lips towards hers.

Kazuya's eyes shot open from the sudden contact. His first thought before anything else was to pull away, but his body, and Lucy's hand wouldn't let him.

Another moment passed and he felt himself starting to give in. The moment his eyes closed to kiss her back, Kazuya felt like he was lost in a world of static. A blend of figures, colors, and information swirled in his mind. He couldn't make sense of it.

The first thing he felt, was Lucy.

Not just her touching and kissing him. He could _feel_ her. It was like he knew everything about her. Likes, dislikes, desires, it was like he was seeing into her naked soul. As if she could hide nothing from him.

The kiss itself flooded Kazuya with a heat he'd never experienced before. It wasn't that he didn't know how to tell if he was sexually aroused, he was a healthy young man after all. He'd known his own sexual desires since he was 10, a little earlier for a boy. But that was not what this was.

He felt his lips part wanting to experience more of the woman before him. his tongue traced her bottom lip, one swipe across them was all it took before she obliged. As their tongues made contact, her hold on him tightened, a muted moan coming from her lungs.

The static and blend of colors became a little bit clearer. Two of the six figures that were mixed in the haze became clearer, one of which easy to see was his sister Kazuha, while he could see Lucy in his mind perfectly. He could see her naked body so clearly, is was like he'd touched every part of her bare skin a thousand times.

The strange thing, was that he didn't want to accept her as Lucy _Renault._ He wanted to identify her as Lucy _Aoi._ Kazuya didn't quite understand why he wanted to label her that way, but just the thought was intoxicating. Like she was _his._

' I am.'

Kazuya broke off the kiss with a gasp as he heard Lucy's voice in his mind.

His breathing came in deep pants from both the inability from his tongue and mouth being so intimately attached to hers, and thinking he heard he proclaim herself as _his._

He watched as she caught her own breath, her breasts heaving up and down in her chest.

Gone was the stoic face. Now she had a smile he'd only seen from one other. One he missed so much it hurt.

"Was that…..?" 'real' he wanted to ask.

Lucy closed her eyes, and he could see her eyelids moving, like she was thinking of or looking for something. Her smile grew just a bit more as she reopened her eyes and look at Kazuya.

"Can you feel me?"

He blinked, not quite understanding what she meant. They'd stepped away from each other, were no longer touching, so how could he possibly feel her?

his blank look must have said it all as she instructed him.

"Close your eyes."

After a brief raise of his brow, he did as she requested.

"Take a deep breath."

He inhaled slowly through his nose, holding it for a moment.

"Don't open your eyes. Think of me. Picture me in your mind. My hair, my face, my eyes, my lips, my voice."

It came in pieces, but something _was_ there. In the place of where he could feel the pull originating from, an image of Lucy was forming.

"Think of my body. my legs, my hips, the size and shape of my breasts."

Normally Kazuya would have been embarrassed beyond belief with what she was saying and asking of him. But he just couldn't help being amazed. As she listed each part of her body off to him, that piece of the picture snapped into place. And with it, little more understanding of what made Lucy who she was.

He could see it now, all of her. Naked as the day she was born, before him in his mind. He could feel her smiling at him, like she knew that he was _seeing_ her. He could feel what she liked. Feel what she disliked. Feel what she wanted.

He opened his eyes in surprise at what he felt from her.

"Y-you….Love me?" He stuttered out.

She redirected the question in a way that was confusing, but also made sense in another.

"Who am I?"

He recalled the image of her. Above her head was a group of numbers he didn't understand. And right there, just next to the seemingly random numbers, was her name. Kazuya said it out loud.

"Lucy Aoi."

Lucy stepped up to Kazuya, grabbing both of his cheeks, and planting a kiss on him once more.

New information came into his mind, pictures and names to associate with them, but nothing else.

She pulled back but didn't let go right away.

"You can feel me. So you know I can't lie to you about anything." She paused as she reveled in the sensations of being connected to him now. Gently rubbing her thumbs over his cheeks.

"You're going to awaken tomorrow. And when you do, we'll be there for you."

"Me, Windy-May, Teslad, Cassandra."

Lucy let go, turned and took a few steps away, and then vanished before his eyes.

"Just like Chiffon." He whispered to himself.


	2. Waking up

**A bit of a long chapter. But I didn't want to end before the legendary pandora arrive. Some of the details missing or changed were intentional.**

It all turned so bad so quickly.

It was supposed to be a small symbol of how the valkyrie could boost the amount of able bodied warriors mankind had to stand against the Nova.

Never in a million years would Kazuya guess that something like this would happen.

The dummy Nova had started resonating the same way it had in Alaska. The same phenomenon that cause Chiffon Fairchild to lose her life.

Kazuya started to hear whispers as the dark mist formed around them, silhouettes that appeared to be bodies inside of it.

The pandora of his group, and he assumed the others too based on the screams off in the distance, started being attacked by some sort of illusion only they could see.

Kazuya couldn't see it. But he could feel it, he could hear what they were saying.

Three voices taunted Roxanne, calling her a fake. Saying that she was only hiding behind that carefree facade to mask how little she thought of herself.

Rana screamed at the vision of her sister, claiming that she _was_ worthy of their Goddess Kunlun's guidance and love.

It was Satellizer's that drew his attention.

As she stared at the mist that was creeping closer to her fallen form, Kazuya heard the voice that had left his dreams a while ago now.

The voice of his sister Kazuha.

 _"I've taken care of him since we were children. You, Don't deserve him. Kazuya belongs to me! Who are you to take my place?!"_

He couldn't believe what he was hearing! Was she here in some way? Why was she attacking Satellizer?

Satellizer used her stigmata to quickly regenerate the limbs that were being cut off, bringing herself closer and closer to the brink of turning into a Nova.

"I am _NOT_ your god damn replacement!"

She stood one more time, gathering everything she had left to run the illusion of Kazuha Aoi through with her blade.

 _"Prove me wrong El Bridget! Show me that you can protect and care for the only one on this planet I love."_

Satellizer met the challenge. Shifted her foot back to launch herself forward.

"NOVA STRIKE!"

But she hadn't seen him move towards the mist.

Kazuya heard Kazuha's voice, and wanted them to stop fighting. He wanted to talk to his sister again, it had felt like ages had passed since those dreams ended.

He'd tried calling out to her, but she either hadn't heard his voice, or ignored it. He tried to grab a hold of the shape, and as his hands slipped through the black mist, he felt cold steel pierce his chest.

His entire body stiffened from the blade that had been embedded in him. The pain was nothing like he'd experienced before. it shot from his chest, to his head, to his fingers and toes.

His eyes opened and saw that Satellizer's had changed back from the Nova slits they had been, back into her serene blue. They peered into his with shock and disbelief, looking as though she'd torn out her own heart and crushed it to oblivion.

"I see now….Why you were seeing my sister…."

Kazuya coughed, blood flying from his lips, dribbling down his chin and onto his perforated shirt.

"I truly…loved my sister…And you're worried…That you're just her….replacement."

His voice was starting to be washed out by the blood pooling on his tongue.

Kazuya could see his sister standing above them now, whereas before it just the mist. Her face was not the look of rage that her voice had made him believe. It held a look of anticipation. She was waiting for something to happen, like this was all a test.

His strength was quickly slipping away, his vision growing dark. It all faded away, except for Kazuha and Satellizer.

And then all the pieces came together. like seeing the way a puzzle snapped into place, he understood what was happening.

He called up the last of the strength he had in his body, wanting to give her that extra little push in the right direction.

There were only a few centimeters between their faces now.

"Satellizer… I Love…You….For you."

He felt the dark void come over him as their lips made a brief contact. He could only hope, that Whatever Lucy and Kazuha had hinted at, was right around the corner.

Whatever this 'awakening' was, it had better be right around the corner. He'd never forgive himself if he couldn't be there to help his friends and classmates.

 **-LineBreak-**

She stood across from him, the gentle smile that his sister always wore.

Tall, slender, elegant. Silky blonde hair that cascaded down to her hips, bangs framing her face, with two strands that fell down to just below her breasts.

He was drawn to her eyes. They were powerful, demanded his attention, they made him feel like he was in the presence of a queen.

The amber irises weren't the thing that initially drew him in however. It was the vertical split in them. It was the same for when a pandora over resonated with their stigmata, the eyes of a Nova.

She wore a slimming, sleeveless dark blue dress that fell to her ankles. He'd seen her once before, only in a tube to be preserved.

Maria Lancelot. The Mother of all Pandora.

All around them, in every direction, was the endless expanse of space. Swirling galaxies, planets, stars.

As Kazuya glanced around them, she kept a warm loving gaze on her face, taking this moment to enjoy being with him in a way that humans would as a whole would never be able to replicate.

"It's time Kazuya."

He turned back towards Maria, took a step on a floor that didn't exist beneath him.

"Will it always be so….Heavy?"

Her smile faltered only a tiny bit before returning.

"It will get easier. You're facing thousands with only one by your side at the moment. The sisters will be coming. You will not be alone for very long."

A breath of relief left his lungs. Standing here, feeling the weight of what was supposed to be coming, would break fairly soon without others to spread the load.

"What about Stella?"

"Hmmmm. She's on the brink, her test is at its peak, Kazuha is watching over her. Surprisingly, your other friend Rana has already made it to the other side."

Maria reached a hand out towards Kazuya.

"Take my hand, you will need to see this in order to understand why this is your burden."

Hesitantly, Kazuya reached out and grasped hers.

The stars swirled around them, but he couldn't tell if he and Maria were moving, or the universe was.

Whichever it was, it closed in, forming what appeared to be an iridescent tunnel that he was speeding through. The bright white light at the end of it was quickly coming closer.

They passed through it, still holding onto one another.

Where they had before been standing amongst the stars, a black endless void had been in between.

Now the stars were gone, and the black void was only broken by the frames of what almost looked like a home video. Only he instinctively knew that this was the past of his family, of his father and sister in particular.

Kazuya watched the images of his family before he came into the world.

His father, a well respected professor and researcher, with a beautiful wife and daughter. To any outside perspective, they would appear to be a normal happy family.

But his wife Orie had never been able to bond with their daughter. Kazuha had always said that Orie would never be able to understand her, because she couldn't _feel_ it.

The older Kazuha became, the more distance was placed in between Mother and Daughter.

Ryuichi went to his father Gengo's lab to confront him about the way Kazuha had seemingly been influenced by her grand father.

But Gengo supported the words that Kazuha had been saying. That Orie would never be able to follow the same path as them, and she would have to follow her own.

Gengo claimed that because of who _they_ were, they had a duty to uphold. And now that Kazuha had become aware of herself, that Ryuichi had to follow suit and step into his role, the purpose of his existence.

Behind Gengo, 5 tubes revealed 2 faces that Kazuya knew, Lucy and Chiffon. The other 3 were only familiar to him because of the images that Lucy had shown him. The names of the women sprang to the tip of his tongue.

"Cassandra, Windy-May, Teslad." Kazuya whispered out, and beside him Maria nodded with a smile.

"My daughters." Her admission gave him a small amount of surprise.

Instead of asking anything more for the moment, he decided it would be better to keep watching the events in front of him.

Gengo called them, the legendary Pandora. Having hundreds of times more power at their fingertips than the average pandora of today.

And that to ensure the survival of mankind, a male with a stigmatic body needed to produce children with each of them.

It was at this point that Kazuya wished he could tear his eyes away. He tried, but he felt like someone was trying to force his head to watch. When the unease in his stomach became to much he spoke.

"Please….Stop. Can you just tell me what happened?"

Maria tapped on her chin in thought, debating whether Kazuya would still understand what would be required of him, and what would most likely happen if he refused.

She waved her hand, and the images vanished. Leaving them in the dark void alone.

"Ryuichi refused. He only wanted to have children with his wife. If things had been different, there wouldn't have been an issue with that. And so you were conceived between Ryuichi and Orie."

Maria chuckled at the uncomfortable look on his face.

"Oh, don't give me that face. You had to know that would be coming. Moving on."

"For a while during the pregnancy, everything was fine. Orie was delighted because Kazuha was absolutely enthralled ever since she could feel your presence."

"Gengo asked for your father to take Cassandra home to let her experience what life with family could be like."

"But then, Orie had complications. You're stigmatic body was putting too much strain on her. If nothing was done, both you and her would die, so you were moved to a more suitable environment."

Kazuya wanted to ask, 'Moved how? to where?'. But he'd already reached an extreme level of uncomfortable with discussing his parents creating him. So he decided to just move passed that part.

"So once I was moved, my mother was okay?"

"Physically." Maria nodded.

"Emotionally, she died. Losing the feeling of life from you growing inside of her, and then Kazuha no longer had an interest in anything she said or did was too much."

"After you were born, you wouldn't feed from her. The only people that could get you to calm down and sleep were your father, Cassandra and Kazuha. Even as an infant, you knew she was different from you."

His eyes turned away and down in guilt and shame.

"So I killed my mother."

"No, Kazuha did that."

He snapped back to her.

"Orie, in her depression of essentially losing her family, came into your room to smother you to death. Kazuha stopped her."

"I see."

"Ryuichi was understandably upset. And losing his wife brought him down to the depths as well. He ended his life with a bullet to the head. Right in front of Kazuha."

There was a noticeable edge to her voice at that. She seemed both disappointed and angered at the cowardly path that his father had chosen.

"Kazuha decided that it would be better if you were taken as far away from Gengo as possible. Seeing that the meddling he had done in only a years time had already ended two lives."

Pride for his sister welled up inside of him. She'd always been there for him. And now he knew that it had been that way even before his birth. But parts of the way he'd both seen on the images he saw, and the details of Maria's story conflicted what he knew of Kazuha.

"My sister was the most loving person I'd known…. When did she change? The image made her look like she didn't understand emotions very well."

"You're right, she didn't understand. In the beginning, she didn't know how to feel love. She took care of you, because you had inspired such possessive tendencies in the other people around her. She wanted the thing that brought that about for herself."

"But over time. You grew on her. She started to want to do things to make you smile, to make you laugh. By the time you were four, keeping you safe, and making you happy were the only things on her mind."

Kazuya let that settle in. He didn't want to feel upset at the fact that Kazuha hadn't always loved him, like he had for her. He couldn't find it in himself to blame her for not understanding an emotion. The end result was that she _did_ love him.

A silence came over them, and Kazuya was dreading what he knew he had to ask. But with the way he left things on the operation field, he would be needed. Needed to guide the girls and get as many of them back to safety as he could.

"Your daughters….no. Erika Kudo…She's not really my grandmother….is she?"

He watched her face, and wasn't all that surprised at the fact that it gave nothing away. He could feel the truth. He just wanted to ask, for the sake of having it verbalized and put out in the open.

"You already know the answer to that. The moment we stood in front of each, you knew the truth."

"Then how can you be okay with asking me…To have kids with my Aunts? My relation to them aside, they're their own person, and deserve a choice in the matter!"

Kazuya had started to wave his hands in an aggravated way. This conversation was eerily similar to the way his extended family had talked about him and Ouka getting married. it was like his and her opinions on it didn't matter at all.

"There are two good explanations for that. Which would you like first? The one that will be accepted on earth? Or the Nova answer?"

"Earth one please. My head is already spinning." He said, a hand on his temple.

"Very well. Cassandra, Teslad, Windy-May, Chiffon and Lucy were created using my DNA alone. It's why they had to be sealed away for so long, their bodies needed to be adjusted to this dimension. Your father, was my DNA in combination with Gengo's, and some filler genes to ensure no chance of major disease, or deformities. So the girls are only your Aunts in the sense of looking at a family tree. Genetically speaking, Ouka Tenjouin is of closer relation to you."

It was a stretch to believe, but it was something that had become a semi common practice among upper class families ever since the Nova appeared. Families looked for any way to keep their wealth in place, and they could use the excuse of producing an offspring that would maintain a higher compatibility with stigmata.

"Alright, and the Nova answer?"

"If both parties have a stigmatic body, they are incapable of producing a child with any genetic faults that might result from what humans refer to as inbreeding. It's an evolutionary result of the male population being under 10%. My daughters are drawn to you. They have been for years, it is both an instinctual and emotional attraction."

Maria felt what was happening back on earth, and had one more important thing to say on this subject before they would be seperated.

"My daughters _are_ in love with you Kazuya. Lucy showed you as much.

Maria looked upwards, a whisper coming to their ears. It was quiet, but there was no mistaking that it was Satellizer.

 _"Everything! You can take it all! My body, my heart, my soul, my life! Just don't you dare die on me Kazuya!"_

Maria set her eyes back onto her grandson.

"That's why you're being asked to do this Kazuya. To give the current and future generations the chance at happiness, at having a life beyond blood and death."

Her serious face turned into a mischievous smirk.

"Besides, now that you've awakened into your true abilities, your body will react more….positively…to the ones who _do_ , or _can_ understand the transcendent will. The _pull_ , as you describe it, was the beginning. You'll know what to do when you feel it again."

Kazuya couldn't resist the groan from passing through his lips.

"Great, I tell Satellizer that I love her, then _"For the sake of mankind"_ am becoming some sort of harem protagonist."

Before he could say anything else. Maria placed her index finger on his forehead, using her own vast power to send him out of the transcendent dimension.

A smile of relief came over her. Happy that mankind would still have a chance to fight back. And if the cards fell in the right places, maybe the two species come start to learn more about each other, in the hopes for a peaceful coexistence, as far off as that result may still be.

"You didn't tell him about his specific relationship with Cassandra, Arcadia, or how they'll both react to him."

Came a voice from behind Maria. She didn't need to turn to know it was her grand daughter.

"He's already going to need some time to accept what he's been shown. The fact that he didn't immediately refuse because of his human morals like his father is a miracle."

Feeling the need to tease once more, something that she only felt with her family, she gave Kazuha a remark she knew would get a rise out of her.

"Besides, how do you think he would have reacted if one day, his sister of all people could hardly fight off the urge to tear his clothes off and screw him senseless?"

She turned to see Kazuha cross her arms under her chest and turn her head away, her cheeks colored with a slight pink.

"Hmph, he'll find out anyway. Arcadia's had little else on her mind ever since he went to Alaska."

Maria tilted her head as something about her grand daughter finally made sense to her.

"Ah. Now I understand what they meant by 'You make people want to punch you.' "

 **-LineBreak-**

Kazuya's body spun through that same color filled tunnel, unable to tell up from down or left from right. His equilibrium and sense of direction completely and totally gone.

The sensation went on for what felt like forever, until it stopped all at once, making Kazuya feel like he'd just been struck by a semi going 80 mph.

The disconnected feeling he'd been experiencing since he fell unconscious washed away.

The first thing Kazuya felt was the pain in his chest once again. It was noticeably more tolerable, but it still stung quite a bit.

His limbs felt slightly numb, and he doubted that he would be able to move them at all for the next few minutes.

Kazuya took a moment to get a better idea of his physical and mental situation.

There were a few moments where the details of what was going on, and why he was laying on the ground were lost on him. It came back in hurried snapshots.

Kazuya found himself able to slightly wiggle his fingertips, but nothing else.

His head stopped swirling, and another thing became all to clear to him.

Lucy, who had been in his group earlier before everything went to hell, was now nearly on the other side of the island. And his awareness of her was proven to be a two way street, because a flood of welcoming warmth hit him. Almost like she was saying ' Welcome back' in that soft voice she'd used the other night.

Then the pressure just over his wound was felt, like two hands pressing on it to keep his blood and organs in his body.

Then a few drops of liquid hit the open skin. They were warm, so he didn't think it was rain, nor did the pre mission briefing say anything about possible storms coming.

As Kazuya tried to open his eyes, he registered that there was a bright light just in front of him. What Kazuya saw as he slowly opened his eyes was both astounding, and beautiful.

There knelt Satellizer El Bridget, his unofficial partner. He uniform torn and her skin bare at the shoulders and knees from being dismembered by the illusion of his sister.

Her tear stained face looking to each side in wonder.

Bursting out of her back were bright wings of light, easily 10 feet in length each. With her long flowing blonde hair, clear blue eyes, she looked just like

"An angel."

Her head snapped towards her love interests face when she heard his ragged whisper. The tears renewed when she saw him looking at her.

She was starting to lean down to return the kiss he'd given her before he collapsed when she noticed what was off about him.

"Kazuya…. Your eyes…"

He blinked in confusion, and would have tilted his head, had he the ability to do so at the moment.

"My eyes?" He echoed.

Satellizer nodded, and backed up a bit. Past experience telling her that anytime you see slitted glowing eyes like that…It could never be a good thing.

She sat up on her knees, the wings of light shimmering behind her as the fluttered briefly.

Kazuya's eyes widened as the light from Satellizers wings illuminated the figure of a transparent Kazuha standing behind her.

Satellizer turned her head when she felt a hand lay on her shoulder.

She felt herself tense, seeing the person that had just been attacking her, and the one that caused her to stab Kazuya and almost kill him.

The smile on the apparitions face did nothing to soothe her worries. Kazuha's lips moved, but no sound that she was able to pick up came out.

It was Kazuya that relayed the message with a smile.

"She's saying…Thank you. Thank you for caring about me, that she's grateful that you did prove her wrong."

Satellizer turned to try and reach for the hand that was held out to her.

She didn't comprehend how it was possible. She was touching the hero of the 8th Nova clash. Kazuha Aoi was holding onto her hand, helping her stand!

As the two stood, Kazuha touched Satellizers shoulder, and more soundless words left her lips.

"She said, it'll be hard at times but…." Kazuya stopped as his sisters words entered an area he didn't want to breach at this moment, so he switched some words and left out others entirely.

"But it'll be worth it in the end."

Satellizer didn't seem to think anything about his pause, still too bewildered at Kazuha's presence.

Kazuya watched as his sister stepped back, looking between the two of them.

'You've been watching over me, all this time…Thank you Kazuha. I hope we can see each other again soon.'

"Was that….an illusion too?" Satellizer asked as Kazuha started to float in the air, her body disappearing into thin air.

When it was gone, she looked to Kazuya, who was still watching where what appeared to be snowflakes hung in the air.

"No. That was real. Kazuha was really here."

They stayed in those positions for another few minutes, Satellizer digesting what it could have meant, and Kazuya still largely unable to move.

Kazuya watched her intently as she turned around and knelt beside him again.

"Kazuya, before you fainted…You..kissed me." Satellizer leaner forward for her face to be directly above his.

Kazuya, slowly lifted a hand to her face.

"I wanted to show you, that you're not a replacement for my sister. That I do genuinely love you. I said it before, but I wanted to show you somehow."

A nervous smile came over her.

It was definitely an inappropriate time, but she couldn't find the strength to stop herself. Something was just creaming inside of her to repeat what he'd tried to do while nearly knocking on deaths door.

Satellizer lowered her head slowly.

She couldn't bring herself to say the words yet, even if she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she loved him too. But a small kiss was within her range of comfort.

When their lips made contact with each other, Satellizer almost fell completely on top of him. Something had changed. It was like a force shoving her down towards him.

She leaned back after only holding the kiss for a mere one second. As she returned to her kneeling position, Satellizer grabbed her head as a painful pulse ran through it. But it was gone just as soon as it passed.

When she let go, the things she felt only made the slightest bit of sense, because of the things the girls were taught their first and beginning of second year.

The ereinbar set. The mixing of senses between pandora and limiter.

She could feel Kazuya, his emotions, the residual pain that was falling fairly quickly.

He was happy about the kiss…. for the most part. The nervous and almost scared feeling confused her.

"How did we do that? We haven't been able to have the baptism yet…"

He was about to answer, but she asked what was the more important question in her mind.

"Nevermind that. What's bothering you Kazuya?"

His mouth closed, and didn't want to just blurt out the truth here on a battlefield, especially when the answer would no doubt effect her ability to fight at her best.

His new understanding of what he was genetically, and what he could do would be hard enough to explain. Maybe Lucy could show him how to do that memory exchange trick?

Either way, the only thing that would make him give up even a part of a detailed explanation would be if he had to….What could he call the process?

Evolve? No, that made it sound like he was changing a part of their core being.

Upgrade perhaps? Again no, that sounded mechanical, and would demean what the pandora in question had accomplished.

Transcend. That's it. If he had to force a pandora to transcend, that would be the only time he'd give up information before he was back at school.

"Stella. Please, just trust me when I say that I want to tell you. But this is probably the worst place and time to do so. Once we get back to Genetics, i'll tell you everything."

Hearing him call her by the nickname made her knees feel a little weak. This new connection of theirs made her all the more susceptible to him. She nodded, not even considering opposing him and pressing the issue here and now.

A flash of light in the not too far distance caught both of their attention.

"THIS IS NOTHING TO ME!" A familiar Tibetan accent called out from where the light was originating.

Another set of light based wings extended into view, the ground shook from a heavy impact.

When the dust cloud settled, Satellizer had Kazuya standing with one of his arms over her shoulders for support.

"Rana!" Satellizer and Kazuya both called out, happy that their friend had been able to conquer whatever demon she saw.

She looked pretty banged up, but overall seemed to have faired better then Satellizer.

There was a tear in the right shoulder and right thigh of her uniform. But otherwise there were only some cuts and scrapes on her.

She took deep huffs of air, regaining her breath after her tiring fight as she looked at the two.

"Stella, Kazuya, glad to see you defeated the illusion too."

Rana stumbled and fell to one knee, but caught herself from falling any further.

"Rana! Are you okay?" Kazuya's voice held more concern for her now than it had before.

They all noticed it.

'Damn. She was right. I'm reacting much more to her than usual.'

Rana merely smiled towards him, thankful for his concern.

"I'm fine i'm fine. To be honest, I feel…..Lighter, calmer."

Satllizer adopted a contemplative look with her head tilted up a bit.

"Actually, I noticed that too. It's a little hard to describe. It's like I feel warm and more relaxed."

Kazuya could feel what she currently was, but didn't have a reference to anything before he'd awakened, so he would just have to take her word on it.

Rana gave a look of accusation to the both of them, pointing her right index finger towards Satellizer and her much more torn uniform.

"You didn't do it here on the field did you? I would never forgive you, if you stole an opportunity like that."

"That's not what happened!" Kazuya and Satellizer both shouted.

A strange tingle came over Kazuya, bringing his attention inward.

He knew it instantly to be something to do with Lucy. Wherever she was, and whatever she was doing, required her to use more strength than she had used in a long time.

His head subconsciously turned towards the direction he could tell she was in. She was still _very_ far away from him, in terms of walking distance.

Rana merely watched curiously, unsure what had drawn Kazuya's attention like that.

Satellizer couldn't feel Lucy, only the spike in concern that was directed away from either of them or any obvious threats.

Kazuya decided to check one of the new abilities that seemed to be ingrained into him.

he could see both Lucy and Satellizer in his mind. Naked and their current wounds if they had any. Lucy looked to be untouched, thankfully. The numbers above her head, the amount of power she had left as he now understood it to be, was falling steadily. 75,870 out of 100,000.

She had quite an amount in reserve to still burn through, but he would still try and keep an eye on it. She was currently sitting at

Then he turned his attention towards the only other image in his mind with those numbers. Satellizer. He was concerned at what he saw. 3,014 out of 8,000.

Compared to Lucy, Satellizer was a moth to a flame. But he knew there was a very good reason for that. Lucy was a direct descendant of Maria Lancelot.

Kazuya shifted in Satellizer's grasp. If things were about to get heavy, he needed to be able to help. And as much as he wished there were another way he knew how to get the information, the situation deemed it necessary.

"Stella." he started.

She turned her eyes towards him again, instead of where he'd been looking. There was an unpleasant look on his face, as she felt his nervousness rise greatly. he didn't like what he was about to say to her. That much was very clear.

"I have to do something. you're not going to like it…But I promise it'll make sense once we're back at school. I just need you to trust me."

They stared at each other for a few more moments, unblinking, she was trying to determine whether he was being honest. She couldn't find any reason to doubt him, and it wasn't like he had every _truly_ given her a reason to doubt his words.

"Alright, what is it?" She said with a nod.

Kazuya turned from her and towards Rana.

"Rana, I need you to stand in front of me for a moment please."

She rose an eyebrow, but ultimately did as asked from her declared 'soul-mate'.

She stood two steps ahead of Kazuya, but he waved her closer, causing a bit more confusion.

Satellizer seemed to realize what he was going to do. She stiffened with him in her grasp. She could tell that Kazuya knew, based on the feeling emanating from him to her. But there seemed to be an honest determination in it, and so while slight anger and jealous pulsed through her veins, she would have to trust that Kazuya knew what he was doing.

Half and arms length away, Kazuya took himself out of Satellizers grip, standing unsteadily. He grabbed one of Rana's hands, his other going to her cheek.

"This is going to sound strange. Rana, i'm going to kiss you. I hope you'll under-"

She didn't wait for him to finish. He needed no permission from her to do that, he could have done it anytime, or anywhere.

Because he was still trying to explain, Kazuya's mouth was still open, and Rana had immediately plunged her tongue into the kiss. He reciprocated it until he felt the connection between them, and then pulled away.

He could feel that she did _not_ want it to end so soon. but they had bigger things to take care of at the moment.

Focusing on Rana, he could tell that happiness was the majority of her emotions. Happy that the one she wanted to spend her life with was finally giving her the attention she craved from him.

Just as he thought, her wounds were minor. And he found what was the more important thing to him. The power she had at her disposal right now.

5040 out of 8250.

Kazuya found it intriguing that Rana had more energy than Satellizer. But Rana was more of a hard hitter, while Satellizer was a bit more agile, so it made since once he thought of it that way.

And she hadn't fought his sister, one of the strongest known pandoras to date.

Rana stared at him wide eyed, confused and shocked at the new sensations. But didn't find it at all unpleasant.

"A baptism through a kiss?" She asked.

Kazuya shook his head in the negative. "Not exactly. I'll explain once we're back at school. Let's go find the others."

 **-LineBreak-**

Utter Chaos was what Kazuya, Rana and Satellizer found. All they'd had to do was follow the screams.

Screams of their classmates being killed. Eaten and torn apart by what appeared to be some humanoid Nova with a lizard based head.

No eyes, no ears. Just a jagged mouth that was ripping into the participants of this drill. Claw like hands that could pick up and shred a human body.

Kazuya had regained enough mobility to be able to stand and walk on his own a while ago. And after a 25 minute walk, they came across the first set of them.

Satellizer and Rana had disposed of the ten Nova with minimal effort, a feat they had yet to understand was only because of their transcendent state. They didn't understand how these _weak_ and _slow_ things could catch the others off guard.

They kept moving, and Kazuya kept an eye on his friends energy levels.

The little that had been expelled taking out the lizard Nova had already recovered, and the numbers continued to slowly rise back to their full reserve.

The next encounter only found three of them.

One of which had Charles Bonaparte in its jaw. her arms already torn off, blood cascading down her face towards the ground. She looked resigned to the fact that she was about to die.

Arnett Mcmillan stood in front of it, trying and failing to get the thing to even flinch from a strike of her scythe.

Rana pulled her glove on tightly, and readied herself to intervene.

She pulled the arm back, and blasted it forward, creating a shockwave from the sheer force.

The beasts head exploded in crystallized flesh, but didn't stop moving.

"You weren't planning being monster food were you?" Rana said sarcastically, as the three of them approached.

"Rana, Satellizer?" Arnett spoke from the ground where she had been pushed by the nova, one of her eyes swollen shut and the other well on its way.

"We can say hello later. Smashing these things to pieces comes first!" Rana announced as she sped forward towards the second opponent.

"NO! STAY BACK, THEY'RE STRONGER THAN THEY LOOK!" Charles pleaded from the third beasts jaw, the pressure it had on her growing steadily.

Rana's fist connected to the abdomen of the middle one, doubling it over for a moment, before it tried to take a swing at her.

She ducked, laughing at how slow the nova was. Lost in her laughter, the nova grabbed her by the sides, trapping her arms. She struggled only to find that the beast had a tactile freezing ability, its touch disabling her movements.

"Stella, Kazuya, they use freezing when they touch you!" She didn't even seemed worried that she could have her head devoured at any moment.

Satellizer materialized her blade and launched herself at it. An upward slice cutting it in half, and sending Rana to land on her butt on the ground.

With what Rana had said, Kazuya prepared himself to stop the last of the nova trio from eating Charles, extending a hand as the hexagonal blue markings freed Charles and kept the beast in place.

Arnett and Charles looked at them stupefied at how Rana and Satellizer made it look like childs play, when they couldn't even scratch the thing.

"Arnett, can you move?!" Satellizer went to her as Rana went to check Charles over.

"I'm fine. The runt is way worse off. Her Stigmata stemmed the bleeding, but she's far from being combat ready."

"I DON'T NEED ANY SORT OF TREATMENT! WE NEED TO FIND ROXANNE!" All of them looked at the headphone wearing pandora. She had a pleading look on her face. Charles _never_ asked for help, let alone be practically begging for something.

"She's out there…all alone. We _have_ to find her."

The group wasted no time. Satellizer helped Arnett stand up, Rana carried Charles on her back, and they set to running in the last direction that Roxanne was known to be in.

"Rana, how the hell did you beat that thing?" Arnett spoke in between strides.

"I didn't do anything different then we normally do."

"BULLSHIT!" Arnett almost stopped running when she heard that.

"Charles and I couldn't even slow it down!"

Satellizer spoke only loud enough for the group around her to barely pick up.

"I knew it…That's why this is going so poorly."

Satellizer turned her head just enough to see Arnett in her peripheral, and still keep going forward.

"I didn't get it at first either. I wondered why the pandora were getting beaten so badly-"

Arnett almost lost her composure completely.

"Are you telling me you had no idea that you somehow got some crazy power boost?!"

Arnett turned her head back to Rana.

"We had no way of knowing. After those illusions, we saw those white monster things and just beat on them like usual. Are they _really_ that strong?"

"Kazuya, it's because of we beat those illusions isn't it?" Satellizer whispered to her side, where Kazuya was keeping up surprisingly well given his recent state.

"I don't know the specifics, but in someway…yes." He whispered back.

"I don't think the incident was intentional on West Genetics part. But each pandora saw something that plagued their mind….it was like trial to prove yourself."

She made a complicated face, but decided to only voice part of what had happened to the two second year pandora.

"It's because we beat those illusions. I fought Kazuha Aoi, Rana had to fight her sister. Afterwords, those light wings just shot out of our backs. I've felt strangely light ever since."

The group came over a hill. And saw two lone figures.

One appeared female, floating a foot off the ground. It was naked, but no _human_ skin was showing. The only thing covering any part of its body was a strange gcyclop-style helmet with a wing on each side of its head.

This was a new type of Nova that they had never encountered before.

And it had Roxanne the Immortal soundly defeated.

The american Genetics cadet stood a foot in front of the new Nova, still as a statue, completely naked. Clear signs of Nova tissue.

Only Kazuya could see it, but she had been altered by the Nova. It was almost like seeing a difference in a heat signature. The girls with him seemed to radiate a whitish hue off of their bodies that he hadn't even realized was there because of the light their wings produced.

But now that he saw something different, he could identify it. A reddish brown hue, like that of drying blood surrounded Roxanne.

"GRANNY! GET OUT OF THERE DAMMIT!" Charles screamed out from Rana's back.

Both the Nova and Roxanne turned slowly towards their direction.

The girls gasped as they saw the nova slit pupils on their comrade. it was clear that something was wrong with her.

"She's being controlled.." Kazuya said to the group.

Rana and Satellizer took him at his word. Charles and Arnett however…

"AND HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW THAT?!" Arnett bellowed.

"ROXANNE!" Charles just ignored everyone else around her.

Arnett caught a glimpse of Kazuya's eyes. She hadn't noticed before because of the situation she had been in.

"What the fuck…. you're eyes are just like hers."

The girls could feel the nervous tension in him when she said that. They just figured that it was because of what she'd said.

But in truth, it was the proximity to Arnett.

There was one thing that Maria Lancelot had failed to mention to him when they spoke.

'Apparently the stronger the stigmata compatibility of a pandora, the stronger the attraction starts off.'

Pretty much everyone at west genetics knew that Arnett had an absurd rating with stigmata. it was apparent that _the pull_ had layers as to how it affected him.

it was no wonder he could feel it so clearly from in the stands when she and Ticy fought.

"Stigmatic body side effect, nothing to worry about." He said shortly. Now was not the time to try and explain anything. They had an enemy of unknown strength in front of them.

Kazuya felt for where Lucy was, just in the hopes that she was close by…..But had no luck with that.

She had changed positions, and was still using a good amount of power, but nowhere near close enough to be of any help if he could have reached to her.

'Soon…' Kazuya could have sworn that he heard her voice whisper to him.

A quick check with the power levels of Rana and Satellizer told him they had a total of 11,492 to work with.

He wasn't sure that would be enough. Arnett hadn't transcended yet, and this Nova would no doubt be powerful. And that was not even considering the fact that Roxanne would probably be attacking them as well.

Arnett dashed in first towards the Nova, her scythe held high to get a downward swing on its head.

The Nova didn't even move. And when the scythe got close, something of an invisible wall stopped and shattered her scythe.

Roxanne appeared next to Arnett with a blank yet crazed look in her eyes.

her gauntlet clad arms raised in a hammer swing to put Arnett down to the ground.

"Alright! Leave this to me." Rana moved in quickly to assist.

She ducked low once she got in range, Roxanne taking the bait and swinging high to behead the Tibetan.

Left fist shooting out into her abdomen, Roxanne flew back a few feet, only to come to a stop and look like nothing happened.

"That oughta put you to rest-" Rana stopped speaking as Roxanne lunged and swung at her.

Rana's reflexes told her to lean left, hook the controlled pandora's arm and pull the opposite direction with all the force she could muster.

Roxanne's attack went over the mark yet again, her arm was hooked mid upper arm. And promptly torn from its socket. Rana twisted outwards sharply to snap the bone and tore the arm completely off.

"Relfexes saved my face right there."

They all heard Charles gasp from the ground, and saw Roxanne regenerate her arm.

Enough was enough. If Kazuya did nothing, they'd all die before any more help could arrive, and there was no way to know that even if they had all of the topper pandora in their school that they could win.

He would have to try and hold both the Nova and Roxanne for as long as he could.

"Rana get back!"

She leapt back just as requested.

His typical omnidirectional freezing that they had all come to see and experience before was gone.

The blue hexagons stretched out in two pieces, one to the Nova, and the other to Roxanne.

When he had awoken, Kazuya knew the truth behind what freezing _really_ was. It was one beings essence, or soul, reaching out and grasping at anothers.

And the body had no way to deny its access, thus making it vulnerable. It was why first year pandora couldn't select their limiters. The stigmata needed time to become a true part of the girls body. Once that happened, and it was placed in their chosen partners body, when activated their abilities were more powerful and moves more fluid. They knew how to react to each other because their bodies were joined, even if in a distant way. That stigmata was still a part of the girls body, of her soul.

The freezing reached Roxanne first. Kazuya connected to her and felt her fear. Felt the rage that the Nova had forced her to feel.

 _unfair, biased, evil, uncaring, unsympathetic_

He didn't quite understand why she would be made to feel that way. The nova had never made any attempts to even talk to mankind. And yet they were judging them.

Roxanne was held in place.

The other strand reached the nova. And it was far worse.

He couldn't even put into words what those dark emotions were saying.

it was just…. wrong. The Nova had wronged and _been_ wronged.

he couldn't hold them both at the same time. he was too far spent, still recovering somewhat from his earlier experience of near death. He needed time before he could manage that feat.

So Kazuya pulled back from the Nova, who still had yet to move, and just seemed to be observing them and what they would do.

The blue strand doubled on Roxanne. The strain much more manageable now. The emotions that he felt before now only seeming like a spirit whispering into her ear, coercing her, seeping hate into her mind.

But he could feel _her_ , Roxanne the pandora, in the midst of this Nova controlled flesh bag of mass destruction and death. She was terrified, whispering for help against the screams of violence and dismemberment.

All Kazuya needed to do, was grab onto that small part of her that hold onto it.

Physically, he stood there with his hand stretched towards his fellow cadet. His friend and teammate.

Mentally, or more accurately, spiritually, His mind was weaving of that same red and brown hue that had surrounded her.

The wisps, the hatred, the evil intentions tried to grab onto him. But being on his guard for it, Kazuya was able to maneuver through and see that small white spark in the distance.

 _leave me, i'm dead. Don't waste the effort, you'll only get yourself killed as well._

It was a last attempt for her conscience to stay clear, to get her friends away from danger.

He wouldn't allow it. She was going to return with the rest of them, there was no other choice.

"You're coming Roxanne. And once I get you back, you're going to help us take this bitch down."

Kazuya came directly up to the light, and saw her standing there, just as naked as she was in reality. She didn't have that confident, carefree smirk on her face. She just looked like a normal young woman, placed in an impossible situation.

He reached into the light, grabbing her by the forearm, his grip as tight as he could manage. He wasn't about hurting her, even in her physical body, the chance of him harming her like this was next to zero.

His metaphorical grasp on Roxanne, Kazuya pulled back as fast as he could, hoping she came with him.

 **-LineBreak - a quick one anyway**

Lucy lowered her hand, the silver-blue energy dissipating away. She had easily dealt with over a hundred of these abominations.

Compared to her, they were nothing, even in the large groups that were manifesting off of the larger dummies turned actual nova.

But compared to her sisters…. they were hardly worth the time it took for their gaze to pass by them.

If there was one thing she wished her father had blessed her with, it was more soul energy.

But the trade off, she felt, was worth it. To be able to understand human emotion and have the capacity to connect with them. Not that she ever had, other than Kazuya. But her connection to him didn't require empathy to humans. She understood him on a level that no human could.

Lucy, and her sisters too, knew Kazuya's fears. They knew his hopes, his dreams, his deepest desires.

She knew what would awaken him the moment her awareness of him come to be.

Preservation. That one word described what would drive Kazuya to reach his potential.

To care, to protect, to ensure the continuation of mankind.

It was something that she knew her sisters and herself lacked.

Her elder sister may be the most animated of the group, but that was just a show. A fake. She cared for Kazuya, that was all.

Lucy turned her attention to where Kazuya was. Her ability was far greater than his at the moment, but that would fix itself in time.

Her neutral expression turned into a slight frown, he was doing something _very_ dangerous to himself. That was something she didn't like. She would have to hurry and get to him. But both duty to what her father had said, and what Kazuya would expect of her stalled her advances.

He may not feel as strongly about Ouka Tenjouin as she did for him, but he stilled cared. And her dying on this field would bring him much grief. Which was something she could not allow.

So she cut them down. Ripped them apart like the animals they made themselves out to be.

Heads rolled, arms flew through the air, crystallized flesh pinged against the dirt in droves.

She could go faster, but that would drain her power faster.

Even though she had the ability to regain it through her surroundings, the rate at which she _wanted_ to use it would leave her potentially vulnerable once she made it to her main obstacle if her sisters didn't arrive on time.

She could feel that they were waking. But with how far away they were, she wasn't entirely sure it would be soon enough.

So Lucy would have to take from human culture. She would pray that they _did_ make it on time.

another platoon of humanoid lizard Nova approached. Lucy debated either increasing her output, taking the time to eliminate them as she had been, or just leaving them her to going to Kazuya.

The decision was made for her when the valkyrie team made its way towards her.

No matter what she did here today, she would be revealed as more than what she had claimed to be.

So Lucy opted to use just a bit more power than usual, leaving her just above 50% when she would finish if her speculation was correct.

 _Just hold on Kazuya. We're coming._

 **-LineBreak-**

Just as things had started to seem like they were turning in their favor, fate spat in his fate again.

Bringing Roxanne back from essentially Nova mind control, hadn't done a thing to help them out.

While she had been forcefully transcended by the humanoid female nova, Kazuya hadn't connected with her. So he was still only able to monitor Rana and Satellizer. Transferring any energy in between the two would have been pointless.

And they were both wearing down to bare bones.

Rana laid on the ground with her hands cut off at the wrist.

Satellizer tried to use some sort of light speed thrust.

It had seemed to work too, blew the head right off of the damn thing.

But it had regenerated just as his teammates had their limbs.

Only this time it had a human face. A human face with the same slit nova pupils he currently possessed.

'A lot of good this power has done me. Even if I had the time to connect to the rest of the girls here, I don't think it would have made even the slightest difference. this thing is too strong!' His thoughts were approaching desperate.

Bringing Roxanne back from her nightmare had made things seem fair for only a few minutes. And along with Arnett being pierced by an energy beam, Satellizer and Rana were pretty much both down for the count.

The nova held a creepy smile, looking amused that they were still struggling, trying to avoid the inevitable.

" _Lets…..Play."_ it whispered. Its voice was quiet, but it carried to everyones ears, and even seemed to echo off the surroundings.

Kazuya felt himself leaning to his left, nearly falling down.

His eyes widened as he felt it.

 _the pull_

He could tell it was far away, and there were multiple that he could feel himself wanting to head towards. 4 of them, 1 he already knew, and the other three were vastly more powerful.

There was only one explanation that he could come up with.

"They're coming."

He just needed to hold this monster still long enough for them to get here.

"Hurry it up girls…"

As much as he really didn't want to do it, he would have to steal most of the energy Satellizer and Rana had to freeze the nova in place.

"Stella, Rana. I'm borrowing your energy to freeze it in place. Help is on the way, so I need you to stay still, make no unnecessary movements."

Kazuya didn't wait for a response, he looked at the exact amount he had to work with.

out of the combined 16,250 that the two girls would have at a full charge, it was now down to 2,128.

The normal state of their bodies would take about 15 an hour, with no wounds. Rest and food would resupply them.

Their healing factors would probably be using triple that right now. And the trip back to campus would take two hours.

Factor in the time it would take to leave the island….

Kazuya figured he could leave them each with 120, and he would pray that would give them enough time.

Otherwise Roxanne would probably chew him out for having to kiss her out of nowhere. If she didn't outright clobber him into the ground with those massive gauntlets.

Kazuya extended his freezing at the Nova, trying to use just enough to keep it in place.

It connected, and he could immediately feel the darkness inside of it.

He didn't know if that connection was able to be manipulated by the Nova, he hoped it couldn't.

 _lets play_

 _lets play lets play_

 _lets play_

The phrase was creepy as all hell. Like those old movies where two little twin girls standing in the middle of a narrow hallway where the lights were flickering on and off. Holding onto a stuffed animal, long hair overing their face.

It was that kind of creepy multiplied by 10.

Kazuya could feel himself shiver from it.

'Just keep holding it…' Even his thoughts sounded strained from this effort.

Lucy must have felt what he was doing, because the speed at which she was going increased dramatically. She was with two of the stronger sisters, while the last of them was nearly here.

 _"Lets….play…"_

 **CRASH**

Just behind the nova, one of the girls Kazuya had felt landed hard onto the ground.

The dust created a cloud, covering what the new arrivals appearance was.

"Okay~, I'll play with you!"

The air cleared enough to see her.

Long pink hair in pigtails that reached her hips, amber eyes that glowed like his. Hers didn't have the Nova slit pupils, instead there was a ring around her iris that glowed just a bit brighter then the rest.

Her uniform had a knee length white skirt, a front stitched corset style top with detached sleeves from her upper arm to her wrists.

As with most of the girls at his school, she had fairly large breasts, making the low cut neck line show off a decent amount of cleavage. Just above her breasts, in the center was a large single stigmata. Larger than he'd ever seen.

Her giant hammer that stood a bit taller than she was.

"Windy-May….you made it…" Kazuya strained to speak while keeping his freezing in place.

The genuine happy smile on her face didn't fit the situation at all.

"Of course I did! You didn't think we'd let you deal with this alone did you?"

Windy picked up her hammer, making it seem like it weighed next to nothing, and raised it into the air.

"Kazuya…who is she?" Stella had propped herself up to see this new girl that seemed to know her partner.

"She's…. some of our back-up." He didn't want to go into specifics right now. Kazuya still had to come up with a way to deliver _that_ news gently.

"Don't worry…You're all safe now. I'm not going to hurt you." Windy-mays hammer emitted a bright white glow, spewing the same snow flakes from Alaska, the same that Satellizer saw when Kazuha disappeared.

It shot out like a fountain, floating through the air and landing on each of the Genetics cadets.

Rana, and Charles arms were regenerated, looking as flawless as they ever did.

Arnett's wound in her abdomen closed.

Satellizer, Kazuya and Roxanne could feel themselves be completely refreshed as the flakes touched them.

Kazuya saw Rana and Satellizer's power back to full now as they each stood.

Even the Nova tissue on Roxanne had completely receded.

"I feel as good as new!"

"The pain in my wounds are gone.."

"How the fuck did she do that?"

Roxanne, Charles and Arnett took stock of their revitalized selves.

Kazuya looked over the group, not realizing that he'd let go of his freezing when he felt the energy come into him.

Windy-May smiled, happy that her efforts worked and seemed to be appreciated.

The female humanoid Nova used an accel turn to appear behind Windy, a hand nearly placed against the side of her face.

"WINDY LOOK OUT!"

 **BOOM**

The sound of a small bomb exploding rang throughout. the smoke covering what they all thought would be a headless ally now standing in front of them.

A breeze picked up and blew the air clear of debris.

"She's…fine..?" Arnett looked at the pink haired young woman in shock and amazement.

Windy turned to face the Nova, her happy smile turning into a wicked grin.

The Genetics students except Kazuya had wide eyes as they looked at her. They _knew_ that smile.

It was the same one that gave Chiffon Fairchild her moniker of 'The Smiling Monster'.

"Now that wasn't very nice, I wasn't ready to start playing yet."

She grabbed her hammer with both hands, winding up to swing.

"Batter up!"

The massive hammer same at a speed that the cadets had a hard time following.

There was a wet crunch as it made contact with Nova's shoulder at an upward angle.

The arm, and the entire upper torso separated from the rest as it was sent flying through the air.

Windy-may watched it sail away with a hand above her eyes, as if she were trying to block the sunlight as she looked into the sky.

When it landed several hundred feet away, she smiled towards Kazuya giving him a 'V' with her fingers.

"Wind-May 1, Nova lady 0"

Three more crashes came from just behind her as she held her pose.

"She did that….with just one hit." It was unusual for Rana to speak in such a flat voice. But the enemy that had thrashed all of them had just been torn apart by someone that was acting like a hyperactive child.

"What the hell is she?"

"And I thought that _I_ was awesome. She's a badass."

Came Charles and Roxanne.

"Lucy?" Satellizer asked once she could see one of the other figures that had arrived.

Lucy looked impassively at each of the pandora cadets, her eyes stopping on Kazuya, a sly smirk on her lips.

"Only two?"

Kazuya rolled his eyes at her.

"I didn't have the energy to transcend any others, Roxanne's was from the Nova."

Kazuya pointed towards Arnett as they all watched him, confused as to what he was talking about.

"Besides the fact that Arnett would probably kill me, they all have limiters. I'm not going to force this on any of them."

Her smirk turned into a heartfelt smile.

"I see the tactician part of you has awoken as well."

He shrugged, not thinking that it was that hard to see the outcome of what she'd teased he could have done.

"While the added strength would no doubt be helpful, we need everyone to work together. Forcing it would have caused internal conflict that would have only made things harder."

Windy-May hadn't been listening to what they were saying. Instead she walked over to one of the other two arrivals.

A taller woman with long blonde hair that, even with the black barrette, still reached to her thighs. Orange colored eyes just like the others except Lucy. Her uniform was a long skirt that was parted in the front near the top of her stockings. The top was open on her sternum, revealing part of the sides of her large breasts.

"Look look Cassandra! It's Kazuya!"

Cassandra stood next to a purple haired woman who also bored a striking familial relationship to Windy and Lucy. Orange eyes, and more of an athletic build than the others.

The one truth about all of their appearances… they were all gorgeous. Their bodies proportionate and unblemished.

Cassandra walked directly up to Kazuya, no expression on her face. As they stood a little less than arms length apart, she slowly reached a hand up to cup the side of his face.

Kazuya watched, unable to take his eyes away from her. Something was different about this woman was different. He felt a desire to be close to her. It was different then the way he felt about anyone else. But it was love, of that he was sure.

The hand on his cheek slid around to the back of his head and Cassandra pulled him tight into her chest. Her neutral expression changing into a smile of contentment.

"HEY!" Rana and Satellizer yelled out. They didn't like what they could tell Kazuya was feeling.

Cassandra looked up to the two girls, shooting them a dark glare, daring them to take Kazuya from her.

"You can let go of him now!" Satellizer and Rana stepped forward together.

Cassandra hugged him tighter. Their patience broke when they realized that he wasn't struggling to get away like he normally would have with most other people.

"I said let GO!" They lunged, barely managing to grab onto to each shoulder as Cassandra turned to get her time with Kazuya.

"Phwa!" Kazuya popped out of her hold and fell back onto the ground with his two friends.

The purple haired woman stepped passed her sisters and towards the male on the ground. She knelt down next to him as he gasped for breath, poking him on the cheek to get his attention.

Kazuya tilted his head up to see her. He gave her a smile as best he could, while trying to regain his breath.

"Hi Teslad, nice to see you too." The girls were confused. It seemed like he understood her, even through the stoic expression.

Teslad nodded, before grabbing onto the collar of his shirt and pulling him into an abrupt kiss that he wasn't prepared for.

"Hey~!" Windy May whined.

"I wanted to be the next one! Kazuya that's not fair!" Windy May pouted and crossed her arms.

His connection made to Teslad, Kazuya noticed just how different it felt. He definitely could tell that the more power the girl had, the stronger the initial connection.

And the one he just made with Teslad with leaps and bounds above Lucy. If Cassandra was more powerful, he wasn't sure how he'd be able to handle it.

The sound of a helicopter came from the distance, quickly closing in on them.

Teslad pulled back, staring right into Kazuya's eyes. Their ability to silently communicate would be blessing he realized as she silently said.

 _We're doing that again soon._

He gave her an uncomfortable look, and tried to communicate the same way, wanting to tell her

 _I still need some time to absorb everything that's happened. So no further than a kiss, alright?_

She gave him the smallest smirk he'd ever seen. But on her, that seemed to speak volumes.

 _Good luck trying to keep Cassandra at only a kiss once you're alone._

Kazuya suddenly felt like he was being stripped by someones eyes.

Based on what Teslad had just said to him, seeing Cassandra looking at him wasn't all that surprising. But he noticed Lucy also had the same look.

The helicopter hovered above them, the door on the side siding open. Gengo Aoi stepped into view, holding onto the bar with one hand, a megaphone in the other.

[Kazuya! You and the sisters come with me! The others will take the chopper on its way!]

While he didn't want to leave Satellizer, Rana or his friends. he did feel it was best to have a talk with the sisters and his grand father.

 **END!**

 **Like I said at the beginning, some of the things that were different from the manga were intentional. Like Roxanne** ** _not_** **exploding.**


	3. The meeting of change

Kazuya was _supposed_ to meet up with his grandfather 45 minutes ago in his office.

But that wasn't happening at the moment.

After the most tense helicopter ride he'd ever experienced, thanks to the girls around him barely restraining themselves from doing what their instincts were demanding, Gengo Aoi said to meet up with him in 2 hours.

Windy May had asked (demanded), to see where his dorm room was. She had grabbed his hand and started walking in the wrong direction.

After putting them on the right path, Kazuya had explained everything they passed on the way to the male dorms. The students that were still on campus were all giving them strange looks.

It wasn't uncommon to see a group of beautiful girls walking along, in fact it was so common that it was stranger to see a girl most guys would rate as under an 8/10. What was different, was the way that Lucy, Teslad, Windy-May, and Cassandra all seemed to be so hyper focused on the same guy…

Kazuya.

Their eyes hardly leaving him to watch where they were walking. Along with the things he could feel from Lucy and Teslad, he was feeling like a mouse about to be pounced on by a lion.

Coming into the male dorms, the girls had huddled even closer to him as they walked down the first year student hall.

Once he had opened his door… it was like the flood gates opened.

Last he had looked, Windy-may had been the closest to him, with Teslad and Lucy side by side behind her, and Cassandra a few feet behind them.

So the tall blonde beauty must have shoved her sisters out of the way, because Kazuya found himself being forced inside his room, and onto the floor only a mere two feet from his bed.

His back slammed against the floor, and as he gasped out from the shock of the quick change of pace, his breath was set off by a warm and wet appendage entering his mouth.

His vision cleared just as another link was established in his mind. Blonde. That was the first thing he saw and recognized through his daze. The first thing this new connection relayed to him, was excitement.

 _Finally….I have you._

The thought drifted through his battered brain.

He hadn't realized that he had been responding to the kiss, as he hadn't even truly known thats what was going on. But his body reciprocated on its own.

Cassandra had forced him to the ground, straddled him and started kissing him senseless. Her face barely holding back the mask of emotions he could tell she was feeling.

Closing his own eyes, Kazuya focused on giving her what she wanted for the moment.

As they kissed, he saw her in his mind. Picturing her the way that Lucy had told him to when she kissed him that night. For some reason, the pull towards her hadn't lessened, even though their connection was made. It had gotten slightly _stronger_ instead, which confused him.

Granted, this was all _very_ new to him. But why? Why would it stop with the others, but not Cassandra?

A dual set of laughter in his mind told him, that those thoughts were transmitted to Lucy and Teslad, and based on the continued confusion he could feel from Stella and Rana, they couldn't hear his thoughts yet.

That might have been a blessing in disguise. Probably better that way, until he was able to explain things to them.

 _Feel what she wants._ The statement came from Lucy, who seemed to be his faithful guide through all of this. Kazuya did as she asked, as Cassandra seemed to want to change their positions.

She rolled them over, so that he was now on top of her. Her breath causing her generous bust to heave up and down with each intake.

 _It's simple. I want_ _ **you.**_ Cassandra answered the question for him. But he wasn't satisfied with that. He wanted more information.

Looking at the very core of her being, inside of his mind, Kazuya saw what drove the woman who's looks defied logic.

He was shocked to find how little mattered to her. It was basically only two things, even if they could be combined into one.

Her family, and him.

She differentiated between her sisters, parents and Kazuya, because she wanted him on a level that was hard to fathom or understand. Delving into that particular desire made his heart clench. It was….overwhelming.

Love didn't seem to be a strong enough word for it. And here he thought that the Love he felt from Lucy and Teslad was intense. But compared to this, it was miniscule.

That's not to say that the other girls _didn't_ love him. He could tell they did. But Cassandra…He didn't have words to put to the feeling. It was impossible. Just like Lucy had said when their connection was made.

Regular humans couldn't understand what he was seeing and feeling right now. Because vocal communication was inadequate. It was flawed. It was inferior.

Looking down at her amber eyes, Kazuya couldn't help but feel he was losing himself in them. It was like she was waiting for any sort of communication or action from him. Anything to show what he wanted her to do. Anything to convey the thoughts he had, even though she could feel them at any time.

 _If you weren't my Aunt, or a relative at all….This would be so much easier. But you_ _ **are**_ _, and I have to find a way to deal with that. I have to find a way to come to terms with what is being asked of me._

Ever since they had gotten on the helicopter, Cassandra had this small smile on her face. It was exquisite to see on her, like it was only a portion of the happiness she was feeling coming to the surface.

Now though, that smile reached her eyes, as they shined with an understanding glint.

The truth of the matter was…That his body _very much_ wanted to respond to her in the way that she obviously was looking for. And that was what had him going through a loop.

His mind and his body were at war with each other on what to do here.

His body said to do it. To kiss her, hold her, touch her, make love to her.

His mind however, could only see that as wrong. She was his _Aunt._ She was family. Cassandra was not someone to take his desires out on.

And his real grandmother just had to go and pretty much say, that if he didn't, the future generations had no chance of survival. Because the Nova threat would most likely not end within his lifetime. And the power that they held would be needed to save mankind.

A soft hand cut off his thoughts, as it stroked his cheek. Kazuyas eyes refocused to see that it was Cassandras.

 _You're thinking like a normal human, which you aren't._ _ **We**_ _are different. Your mother was human, giving you what my sisters and I lack. The ability to empathize with them. To think like them._

Her free hand came to the other side of his face, continuing the action.

 _The world could burn and disappear, as long as we had you. As long as you were happy. Without you Kazuya, we have no reason to exist._

Her hands snaked around to the back of his head and neck, and pulled him down. His head was once more embedded in between her breasts as she embraced him.

 _To you, it is strange, and difficult to grasp. To_ _ **us**_ _, it is almost all we've ever known. We were born to be used against the Nova, but that doesn't make our feelings for you, our love for you, our desire to be with you any less real._

Now _that_ was a realization that hadn't really crossed his mind yet. To think that the only reason they were brought into the world, was to fight a war. It was sick. Like some kind of eugenics program.

Had they never been given the freedom to choose for themselves? Of course they hadn't…Not with Gengo Aoi as their father.

The creator of the pandora was no doubt only concerned with the results they could bring to the war front. He may love them. But probably not as much as he loved his son Ryuichi. That was pretty evident from the little he'd seen from Maria. Ryuichi was allowed to roam free and lead his own life, while the girls were in tubes.

"Kazuya~! You're being so mean!" The way Windy said that, made it all to apparent that she was pouting at him.

He straightened up to be on his knees, still straddling Cassandra, and turned towards the hammer wielding powerhouse.

Just as he thought, she was pouting. Her arms crossed, cheeks puffed and tinged red, her brow narrowed in irritation.

What did he do? He was just talking to….

Oh.

He _wasn't_ talking. Not with his vocal cords anyway.

And Windy-May had been left out of all of it.

"I'm sorry Windy. How can I make it up to you?" Now that was a dangerous question if there ever was one. But he had pretty much been silent for the last few minutes. She was the only one left out of the loop.

Her eyes drilled into him, trying to determine if he truly wanted to make it up to her. But under his dark blue gaze, her willpower withered away to nothing.

She bolted towards him, knocking him off of Cassandra and onto his back for the second time in under an hour.

He knew the kiss was coming, and was slightly prepared for it. But he greatly underestimated the passion that she would pour into it.

Sitting on top of him just as Cassandra had, hands cupped to either side of his face, her tongue glided against his. With each stroke her tongue made against his, her hips would grind against his pelvis, and a sugar sweet moan would try to come from her lips.

Kazuya sensed that, while she was truly enjoying the sensations, this was more to show how she felt and what she wanted.

This time, he freely responded to the kiss, since he had anticipated its arrival.

 _Ah~, much better._ Her voice rang throughout the shared connection of the Aoi family.

Windy-May pulled back, and gave Kazuya a loving look that he had seen hundreds of times. Only the last time, was years ago. It was the same one Kazuha used to grace him with.

 _As much as we'd all like to jump right into the physical part of a relationship with you, there's no rush. We_ _ **do**_ _have other things to worry about at the moment._

Kazuya could tell that what she was saying to him right now, was directly going against her desires. It was firstly for his benefit, to try and get accustomed to this new situation. But he and the girls knew that there was a selfish side to it.

The more he got used to being around them, doing things with them, the easier it would be to progress further.

 _For now, all we need is to be with you. A kiss here, a touch there, and we'll be happy…for now._

She seemed to remember something, which wasn't transmitted to him, and gave Cassandra a thoughtful look before returning to him.

 _Although…I would try and hurry it up. The last of one of us…Well, she's…Aggressive._

"The last one? I didn't know there was anyone else." Kazuya spoke aloud, still trying to get used to his new form of communication.

Glancing at all of the girls, it didn't appear like they wanted to give up any info on this other girl.

His raised eyebrow flattened.

"I don't want to know anymore than that, do I?" His tone mirrored how Lucy had spoken to her Valkyrie team mates over the last year, no inflection, no emotion.

Lucy decided to answer for the girls.

 _No. At least, not until you've adjusted._

Kazuya rolled his head to the side, facing the window of his dorm, he missed the other girls moving in on him as he thought.

 _What the hell am I going to do about this mess…._

 **-LineBreak-**

The ones that had participated in the joint exercise, had gotten on their own ride back to campus nearly an hour after Kazuya and the strange women who'd appeared from nowhere.

For most, the emotions felt were all the same. Pain, anger and loss.

And it was easy to understand why. This was supposed to be nothing more than a test, there wasn't supposed to be anything even remotely close to this level of danger.

But that is exactly what had happened. Not only had the nova dummies started resonating, there had been two new types that had appeared. And those two…would have been the end of japan, possibly the world if not for a handful of people.

Among the faces on the flight back, two were a surprise to almost everyone there.

Elizabeth Mably and her limiter, Andre. They had been gone since the Alaska incident, thought to never be returning, but return they had.

The third year pandora and her limiter, sat side by side, with the pandora off in thought about what she had seen and what she had been told.

Lizard like Nova, Humanoid Nova, both with power that was far above anything they'd encountered so far.

But her fellow students had informed her, that four new girls had taken care of it all by themselves. Of those four, one was supposedly a part of a new project that Gengo Aoi was leading.

With those four, apparently Kazuya Aoi, the unassuming first year had been instrumental in holding the humanoid Nova at bay until the new girls came and handled things.

Ever since his start at West Genetics, there had been talks about his abilities. First came from when Miyabi had tried to force him into being another of her limiters.

Omni-directional freezing, _without_ being baptized. It was unheard of. But being that he was the grandson of the creator of pandora, it wasn't all that far from the realm of possibility. Even less so, when one remembered that he was also the brother of one of the best pandoras to have ever lived. The hero of the 8th nova clash.

The British noble, with one leg crossed over the other, contemplated the events relayed to her.

'There's been no sign of special treatment before for Kazuya Aoi, nothing due to his family. But then these unknown pandora show up out of the blue…And the five of them are taken with the Professor. Something is different. Something's changed.'

The Empress, as she had been dubbed, had returned. And she was looking forward to speaking with a specific first year boy. After the mistakes of Alaska, she would not stand by and let another injustice occur. She would uncover the reason for him being singled out.

Hopefully, there wouldn't be a need to repeat the political events of months passed.

As she stepped off the helicopter, Andre and Ticy beside her, she started towards her room for a shower. There was time to investigate later.

 **-LineBreak-**

"I'm surprised. It was beginning to look like you weren't coming at all." Gengo said with barely hidden amusement.

Kazuya stood opposite from his grandfather, who sat at the desk. The office was already nearly filled with stacks of books and papers, quite a feat since he'd arrived so recently. He could have possibly made it on time, if the staff hadn't rushed them away, saying he was supposed to be in the closed off section on campus.

If he hadn't walked by this very office when he spoke to Sister Margaret, he'd think all of this stuff had been here before.

Kazuya was feeling torn on how to act with his grandfather.

Gengo Aoi was a man to be respected, for his actions in preserving the human race.

But Kazuya also felt rather disgusted with how the man had treated his _daughters._ Even though he knew that to be a false statement, Kazuya had no other way to relate his relationship with the girls.

Before getting to whatever it was that his grandfather wanted, Kazuya had something on his mind that needed to be cleared up.

"I should've known about Chiffon, that she was family."

In this era, under his families circumstances, family was something to be treasured and loved. You never knew what day could be your last, he'd learned that with Kazuha, and most recently Chiffon.

He should have been given the opportunity to know her longer, to spend time with her as family should. He'd been alone since Kazuha died, and it hadn't been necessary. He could have spent that time getting to know the ever smiling young woman that had been his aunt Chiffon.

Part of him felt terrible that he hadn't been able to tell. Kazuya knew, that it was impossible, as he'd only have been able to tell once he had _awoken_. But that would never dull the regret.

If he ever saw her in his dreams, like he had with Kazuha, he would express how sorry he was for being such a terrible nephew.

"Yes, you should have. But how would you suppose I bring it up? Her parentage was secret, not even the chevalier knew. I certainly couldn't have just showed up one day, saying you had a few secret relatives. It would raise too many questions. They have only just recently become stable enough to be free."

The amused look on the face of the pandora creator had wilted, now as serious as he usually was while working.

Kazuya knew that his grandfather was probably right in hiding them, but that certainly didn't mean he had to like it.

"So what now?" Kazuya asked, wanting to get right into the reason for his being called here.

Kazuya and Gengo still had a strained relationship. The death of Kazuha would always be something that kept them at a distance from each other. Learning about Chiffon only added to that, if only a little since Kazuya hadn't known her true identity until today.

Gengo steepled his hands together on his desk, the lower half of his face hidden behind them. He wondered just what it was that had his grandson being so short with him.

Was it the usual, destroying the loving family he'd had as a child? Or did he just want to go be with the girls, that were undoubtedly anxious, to be back in his presence?

"Before the video feed cut out, I witnessed what happened with you and those two girls, the Tibetan, and the El Bridget daughter. Lucy told me, that you were close in coming into your true power. Has it manifested?"

Because otherwise, it would have just been him making out with two girls, while a life and death scenario was playing out. Gengo didn't know all the little details about his grandson, but that would have been greatly out of character from everything he'd learned about Kazuya.

"Yes, it has." Kazuya replied simply.

"Then you know what you must do now." Gengo didn't miss a beat. To him, there was nothing more important. Not even family.

He had always been looking out for the greater good, he had done whatever was deemed necessary to achieve that end.

"While not as powerful, those girls will be of good use to you, and to the survival of mankind. Should any of the others show similar progress, they too will be-"

Kazuya raised a hand to interrupt.

"Let me stop you there." His voice was even and commanding, surprising Gengo.

The shy boy, easily pushed around by others seemed to have disappeared overnight. In his place, was a leader, and that was exactly what the world needed.

"Those girls are not playthings, or tools. They are _people,_ who deserve the right to choose their own path in life."

Anger at how Gengo was referring to Stella and Rana flooded Kazuya.

"I understand that my existence, as well as my aunts, was given under the pretense of being a weapon. But they are not! And they will not be forced into being used as weaponized _incubators_ by _you,_ The Chevalier, or anyone else!"

Kazuya was having a hard time not yelling at the top of his lungs. The mere thought of it had him seething. Gengo hadn't needed to complete his sentence for Kazuya to understand where he was going with it. The thought that had him at the brink though, was if his dear sister would have been the same.

"I will talk to those who are able to transcend." Gengo rose an eyebrow at the term, having never heard of such a thing. He was quick to deduce that Kazuya was referring to those who could interpret the transcendental will.

He was curious to see how many more there were.

"Once they have been fully informed of what will happen, they will be given the chance to choose if it's what they want." Kazuya finished, nearly grinding his teeth through the words.

He would not force them into it. In his mind, that would basically turn them into slaves. The control he would have over them, was not something to take lightly.

 _Calm down Kazuya._ He heard Lucy communicate with him.

 _Yea, you'll make those other girls freak out._ Then Windy-May.

He had forgotten for a moment, that all his emotions would be transferred over. He wasn't sure what Stella and Rana would do if they thought he was in danger, and didn't know where he was. It probably wouldn't be good though.

Taking deep breath, Kazuya closed his eyes, thinking calming thoughts.

"So this is where I went wrong." Gengo said quietly, getting Kazuya to open his eyes.

Seeing the renowned Gengo Aoi looking back at him with a sad smile was not what he expected.

"I pushed Ryuichi too hard in the wrong direction." Gengo shook his head, and gave a small smile towards Kazuya, the sadness fading, pride replacing it.

"You have become the leader that I wished your father had been. You have an insight that no one else has, so i'll just have to trust your judgement."

The smile faded back into the usual business persona that Gengo nearly always had.

"But just for curiosities sake, can you tell me how many others there are? The ones that are able to…transcend, as you put it."

Kazuya was skeptical of the reasons Gengo wanted to know such a thing, and he voiced that.

"What will you do, if I tell you?" He asked with narrowed eyes. He didn't need anyone to be pressured, or coerced into accepting.

Gengo rose his hands defensively.

"Nothing, I am leaving this task completely in your hands. I am merely curious of who's able to reach heights that no other human before them has."

Kazuya thought on it for a few moments. If he told his grandfather, then he should talk to everyone he could feel the pull towards a bit sooner. Just to make sure that didn't happen.

That was a bit of an issue, because as he was walking here, there was one he didn't recognize. Someone new, that he could feel the pull emanating from. He would have to find this person first. His aunts could help find the rest to save time.

"There's 6 all together. Stella, Rana, Arnett Mcmillan, Ticy Phenyl, Roxanne Elipton, and one more I haven't seen yet that I just felt on the way here."

Gengo rose a brow, hearing the names listed. It appeared that this…transcendence, wasn't just from compatibility. It seemed like it was more from will, and strength.

Following that logic, it was fairly easy to deduce who the last person was. Someone that he hadn't determined yet, and hadn't been around when he'd started to awaken.

His report on the happenings of the field came in handy.

"Elizabeth Mably, she was on the other side of the testing site." And also one of the strongest cadets in the school, it was probably her.

Kazuya looked off to the right, where he could feel that new pull. Each one was a little different. If there was a way to explain it in such terms, then it would go like this; Stella was soft, Rana was bouncy, Arnett was fiery, Ticy was solid, and Roxanne was fluid.

This new one though, it was hard to describe. The silhouette in his mind, stood tall and proud, she was sure of herself and her actions. She knew that she had things others didn't, but wouldn't flaunt that in others faces. She was noble.

He hadn't really interacted with Elizabeth, but even just seeing her walking by, you could pretty much get that same feel from her.

"Could be her then. I'll have to check myself. Tomorrow, I plan to sit them down and talk to them, I hope you'll keep your word on staying out of this. I'll have to reveal some information that just about nobody knows."

"I promise Kazuya. But if it's at all possible, try to keep Maria out of it. The information you have on her is highly protected. Members of your family are the only ones who know she's alive."

As there was nothing more to be said, the two Aoi men parted ways, Kazuya returning to his temporary room for some much needed rest.

Kazuya needed to think of what his exact words were going to be. Getting them to listen to him in the first place would be a hassle, he was sure.

Pandora were the ones that ruled the school, not the limiters. The women held the power, and the men were their support. The teachers like to portray the pandora/limiter relationship as being equal, two sides of a coin. But every male student knew the truth.

Personally, Kazuya didn't mind. He had never been out for glory or recognition. Truth be told, the biggest reason he came here wasn't even to help people.

What he'd wanted, more than anything else up to the day he came to west genetics, was to make his sister proud of him.

To become a person that she would praise to her friends.

Kazuha had been everything to him. She was his sister, his best friend, the most important thing in the world.

He cared for Ouka too, but it just wasn't the same.

His time at this school had been one spiral of events after another. Each time it was apparent how little the opinion of a limiter was viewed.

 **-LineBreak-**

Quarantined.

According to the announcement that came over the P.A system, those who were directly involved in yesterdays incident, were not to leave the area.

Satellizer and Rana were seated in the cafeteria, hoping to have lunch with Kazuya. It was that thought, that had gotten the pair through the rigorous questioning they'd already received that morning.

Other than describing the illusions they'd seen, the girls hadn't been able to really give much information on how they'd been able to defeat those new nova. The ones doing the interrogation, were not very pleased with such a lackluster explanation.

 _I just refused to lose to an illusion._

Was the answer Stella gave.

They were even less pleased, when she couldn't even begin to explain how Kazuya had recovered from her stabbing him.

"I don't like this." Stella said to Rana, who was shoveling food into her mouth.

Rana looked up to her blonde haired friend, mouth full, and a confused look on her face.

"He's so anxious right now, and we don't know where he is, or why he feels like that."

A good portion of last night, and all morning, the two could feel their stomachs flutter. It wasn't from their own emotions, they figured that out when they met up earlier and said they each felt it. At least it had calmed down a little today.

Swallowing her food, Rana tried to play the reasonable one.

"Kazuya told us that he would explain himself, once we were back. Maybe it's something he knows you won't like?"

Stella thought over that bit for a moment. It sounded possible. Over the time they'd known each other, Kazuya had gotten to know her on a level that no one ever had, except her mother.

"I did overhear some stuff before we met up."

Satellizer gestured for her to continue, as Rana picked up another big bite from her plate.

"Someone said they saw him at the D building with those new Legendary Pandora that showed up, it's on an ever bigger lockdown then we are here."

Satellizer drooped lifelessly, upset that her partner was being kept away from her. She wanted to know how that kiss had essentially acted as a baptism, for herself and Rana. But more than that, she just wanted to be with him.

Kazuya had said that he loved her before, back when they were fighting with her brother Louis. Yesterday though, it felt more impactful, special. She was hoping, that they could find some time alone, as she tried to say it to him.

"Oh Oh! I almost forgot to mention it! Guess who else was spotted on campus?" Rana questioned excitedly, getting Stella to turn her attention away from Kazuya for a moment.

"Elizabeth Mably!"

Stella rose an eyebrow in surprise. She honestly thought that the third year would be gone for good, after her partner had been injured in Alaska. The parting words Elizabeth gave, certainly made it seem that way.

The morale of the school could only improve if she were back. Something that everyone agreed was needed at the moment.

 **-LineBreak-**

Walking through the courtyard, Kazuya felt like he was taking his final steps before being executed.

He knew it wasn't that grim, but there was a possibility that things would change for the worst today. Particularly in regard to his and Stellas relationship. Things had been going well, if a little bumpy thanks to Rana and her continuous budding in.

In the blink of an eye, the path he'd hoped they would walk down crumbled away. After what his grandmother had shown him, he could hardly argue that his new 'task' wasn't required.

The nova that had come to this dimension over the years, were only the tip of the iceberg. Images and descriptions were hazy at best, but he could tell that the things still to come were far more powerful. Even the humanoid type from the other day was an insect in comparison to the real threats.

It would have been helpful if Maria, the only one capable of seeing into the other dimension, would have given him a better understanding of the enemy. He honestly had no idea why she hadn't.

"Shut up!" He heard in the distance. The voice was female, and extremely aggressive.

His senses told him that two of his queries were just out of sight a head of him, along with Stella and Rana. That was a lucky break, as he'd asked Lucy and Windy to look for Ticy and Roxanne.

Cassandra and Tesled were not well suited for the task, with how little they like to speak.

It wasn't a surprise to him, that Arnett was the voice he'd heard yell out. Fiery was definitely the appropriate way to describe her.

The redheads voice had dulled to the point he couldn't make out the words for a few more seconds, as he kept making his approach. Hopefully, most of her anger would be bled out on Elizabeth.

"HOW DARE YOU JUST SHOW UP, GIVING BULLSHIT EXPLANATIONS FOR DISAPPEARING LIKE THAT!"

Kazuya paused, wondering if today was the right choice to do this. An emotionally charged Arnett was not someone he wanted to give strange news to.

'If I don't…Grandpa will find a way to get us all in the same room anyway.' Kazuya thought with a sigh. They would need time to think this over anyway, and the less he thought about the conversations between pandora and limiter the better.

 _Why not just transcend them, and explain later?_ He heard Tesled ask him.

The outcome that would bring could be catastrophic. He had been surprised to learn this morning, that he no longer had to kiss them to transcend one of the girls strong enough. The only reason he had to yesterday, was because of how worn down he was.

 _Because not only would I have royally pissed them off, i'd have their limiters after me too._ He answered.

Avoiding pain was a high priority for anyone, him included.

 _We would tear them apart if they tried._ Lucy added her part.

While nice to know they would protect him, he'd rather not be the reason even more well-abled bodies were lost in the fight for humanity.

 _Hey Kazuya~! This girl kinda looks like Chiffon! I like her!_

At least Windy was staying on topic…sort of.

 _Ah…I have fetched the uncultured swine._

Kazuya briefly wondered how he understood what Lucy said about Roxanne, as it sounded like french, and not Japanese or English, the two languages he spoke.

The hill was giving way to the scene where all the commotion was coming from. He could See Stella and Rana standing off to the side, where none of the others could see they were there.

In the center of a group, Were Arnett and Elizabeth on the ground, the Empress had a red mark on her cheek. They both looked like they were crying, as Arnett had a grip of the collar of Elizabeths uniform.

"Kazuya!" The group turned towards him as Rana called out and bounded over.

Throwing her arms around him tightly, she gave him a hug that could probably break bones, thankfully his heritage made him a little more durable.

He could see Satellizer eyeing him nervously, as she walked over slowly. Kazuya knew, that his own state had her worried. That didn't make him feel any better about what he was going to do.

"Hi Rana, Stella." He greeted with a smile, once he was let go.

The two third years were slowly getting up, as Satellizer stood before him.

"Are you okay Kazuya?" Her voice was quiet, and reluctant.

He grimaced, noting that both Arnett and Elizabeth were also walking towards him.

"Remember that talk I promised once we came back?" The two girls nodded, as the others were now entering hearing range.

"It's about time we got down to that. But…" He trailed off as Arnett interrupted the conversation.

"Oi Kazuya! You mind tellin' us why the fuck we're bein' kept in cages like some damn cattle? You're the head honchos grandson right? I'm sure you know what's up."

Her blunt personality was something he admired, but in this scenario it was probably more detrimental than anything.

"But…?" Stella urged him to continue, ignoring Arnett for the moment.

Kazuya took a deep breath, being this close to two sources pulling him in the same direction, was a little disorienting.

He reopened his eyes and focused on Stella.

"But there's going to be a few people joining us."

Kazuya felt his own nerves start to swell up again, along with Stellas, and it was nauseating. Rana was merely curious as to why.

"If I felt there was another way to approach this, I promise you I would. I'll tell you anything you want to know afterwards."

Thankfully, his emotions were connected to her, letting Satellizer feel that he was sincere. It didn't lessen her anxiety much, but it was something at least.

Kazuya looked over to Arnett, who was starting to fume at being ignored, even if it was only briefly.

"I didn't get the chance to ask him about that. The talk he and I had was about something else. Which is why i'm here right now."

The group watched, as Kazuya seemed to become larger, standing out more than he ever had. His stance straightened, his eyes focused.

He looked like the instructors from their first days as a cadet. A leader, ready to command his subordinates in whatever way he deemed necessary.

"Stella, Rana, Arnett, and Elizabeth, I need you and your limiters to accompany me to the D building."

No matter how they felt about Kazuya, this situation was still a group of upperclassmen being ordered by a first year. Something that the group around him had fought tooth and nail to keep from happening.

Ingrid, standing off to the side scowled at him, as Cleo mimicked it.

Arnett wasn't much better. Not because Kazuya was a first year, but because she didn't like being ordered around without knowledge as to why. She knew the guy didn't have it in him to be pushy unless there was a good reason.

She glanced over to Elizabeth. The blonde rich girl had a thoughtful look on her face, like she was trying to piece some sort of puzzle together.

"If you want us _and_ our limiters to come with you, that means this pertains to our duties, correct?" Elizabeth asked Kazuya

"Elizabeth! How can you just let this first year just bark orders at you?! Not just a first year, A **Limiter!** He needs to be shown his place!" Ingrid shouted, readying her volt weapons.

Stella and Rana both moved to protect him, only to be surprised when Elizabeth came to his defense.

"Yes…A first year limiter, whose only supposed transgression was to side with Satellizer, when we thought she had tried to disrupt the order of things. Do you not remember, that we were proven to be in the wrong in that instance Ingrid? That it was Miyabi that had instigated the entire thing?"

She shot Ingrid a look, telling her to stand down.

"Kazuya Aoi has never been proven to do anything beyond his station without adequate reason. The fact that he is doing this right now, when everyone should be mourning the loss of our classmates, tells me that this is important."

She glanced over to Kazuya, silently asking if she was correct in that assumption.

"It is."

Elizabeth nodded, looking back to Ingrid.

"See? He says it _is_ important. The fact that we will be going to the D building, the one where no one is allowed, only adds to his defense."

"But may I ask what this pertains to, and who all will be in attendance?" She asked Kazuya.

The people that would be joining him, was nothing he couldn't tell them.

"Ticy Phenyl, and Roxanne Elipton will be the other students there."

The reason for the meeting though…he had to be vague about that.

"The discussion will be about performance and…possible changes."

Everyone there noted his choice of words, pandora and limiter alike. For some reason, Kazuya Aoi was gathering some of the strongest pandora. Naturally, they were all curious. And the way he'd singled out students was curious as well, almost as if there would be other people there. Maybe faculty?

Stella and Rana were curious and confused. Their partner had asked not only pandora, but their limiters to join them as well.

"Whatever, let's just get this over with." Arnett said, motioning for her limiter Morrison, to follow along.

Elizabeth took the arm offered to her by Andre, preparing to go as well.

"Kazuya….what?" Stella tried to voice.

All she got in return, was a regretful look in return.

"I'm sorry for this Stella. All I can ask of you, is to let me explain as best I can. After that…It's your choice."

 **-LineBreak-**

The walk over to the conference room on the second floor, had been just as hellish as his walk over to Arnett and Elizabeth.

Kazuya had been getting looks from everyone in the group. Stella was the only one to look hurt though. She didn't know what was coming, but something inside her was screaming that it wasn't what she wanted.

The two limiters gave him curious glances, just as their pandora did.

When he came through the doorway, he was grabbed around the neck, in a powerful grip.

"There's the lug! How ya doin' big guy? I never got to thank you for saving my ass yesterday."

Roxanne had gotten a hold of Kazuya as soon as she saw him, Lucy standing off to the side with a small grin on her face.

The American woman dragged him into the room, from and center of the table, where windy sat, spinning in her chair next to Ticy and her limiter Abel.

"Hello to you too Roxanne. Good to see your up and about…and clothed." He added the last bit quietly enough so no one else could hear.

Yes, she was a beautiful young woman, but he still felt such a sight was reserved for only specific people.

"So what's this I hear about you building a slave squad?"

Everyone in the room that didn't know what was going on stopped, absolutely still.

Kazuya slowly turned to Lucy, who looked wholly unashamed of how Roxanne had described the situation. She wasn't supposed to have said anything at all about it.

 _Did you really…?_ He mentally asked her, the whole room looking between the two.

Lucy shrugged before replying.

 _I merely mentioned meeting you here. Anything regarding her being your plaything for sexual gratification was merely her own imagination._

Kazuya shook his head. Lucy had been introduced to West Genetics as French. Maybe it was related to how he'd heard the French feel about Americans. Her comment of 'uncultured swine' should have tipped him off that maybe Windy should have gone to Roxanne. It still would have been too late at that point though.

"For some reason, i'm not sure I believe that." He groaned.

Freeing himself from Roxanne, Kazuya asked for everyone to take a seat.

As expected, the pandora that had brought their limiters, sat next to them. Stella and Rana were the closest to him, where he stood at the head of the large oval table. To his left, beside Rana, were Ticy and Abel, then Arnett and Morrison. On his right were Stella, Elizabeth and Andre, then Roxanne, whose limiter wasn't present.

Lucy and Windy had decided to stand just behind him.

"Why have you called us here Kazuya? It was my understanding that this area was closed off, only for the use of the legendary pandora." Ticy spoke.

As the student president, she had the most authority in this room, as far as the school was concerned. But this meeting went far beyond the school. This was something that would be for life.

"If what I heard coming in, is true, i'm cutting off your balls right here and now." Arnett added.

Kazuya couldn't really blame her either. _Slave_ was a rather harsh term, although not out of the realm of possibility. If he focused enough, he was capable of making them exactly that.

"I suppose the best place to start, is when I became aware of what brings us all here today." Kazuya took a breath.

He hoped this went well, because this was information that he'd kept to himself for a while now. The group settled in, ready to get down to business.

"For me, things changed after Alaska."

"No shit sherlock! It changed for all of us after Chiffon died!" Arnett snapped, not liking how he seemed to be making this all about him.

Both Lucy and Windy glared at the redhead. Bringing up their sisters death so callously, was not something they appreciated.

"Yes, I know. Please Arnett, just listen. I'll get to the point quickly."

Huffing in annoyance, she did as asked. They were already here, why not just humor the guy.

"It started small, with incredibly lucid dreams."

The others were listening respectfully, Stella and Rana more so then the others. Arnett had wanted to make a comment about not wanting to hear about his wet dreams because he couldn't get laid.

"And then this feeling I would get from certain people. I first noticed it with Stella and Rana, and wrote it off as hormones for a while."

Rana, he could tell, was happy to be mentioned in the story of her self-proclaimed soulmate.

But Stella had paid attention to words, and wilted when he said 'first'.

"But when you two, Arnett and Ticy, had your battle for student president, I felt it then too."

Ticy blushed and looked off to the side, at what sounded like a confession. Arnett merely rose an eyebrow.

"What sort of feeling?" Andre, the limiter for Elizabeth asked.

There was only one way Kazuya had been able to describe it so far, so he stuck with that.

"It felt like I was made of metal, being drawn towards a powerful magnet over a large distance. That was when I knew it wasn't just me losing all moral ground that had been instilled in me. The two of you hadn't even come out onto the field, yet I could feel where each of you were."

Elizabeth and Arnett, looked at him as if Kazuya were some sort of stalker. The limiters starting to become increasingly concerned of where this was going.

"I could tell that Ticy was nervous and didn't truly want to be in that position, because she took small and timid steps towards the arena, even though she projected herself as calm and confident once she was visible. Arnett had large strides, ready to prove that she was the stronger of the two."

While the stalker vibe they had of him hadn't receded, they were paying closer attention now.

"Then came the Valkyrie display. And Lucy hadn't even jumped out of the helicopter yet, when it felt like I needed to hold onto something to keep myself in my seat."

The more he explained, the more Kazuya could feel Stellas heart hurt. He wished he'd had time to explain things to her before hand, but time was of the essence here.

"So you've got the hots for a bunch of the stronger girls here. Big deal, get over it and go jerk off in a corner, fuckin' creep."

Arnett was not liking this discussion, debating if she should get a restraining order on the guy.

Kazuya was trying to be gentle with this talk, but clearly that wasn't working for at least one person.

He looked at the ones gathered, and they too, seemed as though he should just get right to the point.

"Fine." His voice gained that commanding air again, reigning them all in.

"Ticy, I can tell that you beat your illusion yesterday, and you transcended."

The girl in question widened her eyes. She hadn't told anyone but Abel and the ones who questioned her. There was no way he could have known.

 _She had a nice chat with Chiffon yesterday~!_ Windy said, helping him along.

"I see…Thanks Windy. After you dealt with yours, you had wings of light coming out of your back right?"

She nodded heistantly, as her and everyone else wondered how he seemed to have communicated with the pink haired girl without them noticing.

"You, Roxanne, Stella and Rana were the only ones who did."

Elizabeth and Arnett looked over to Roxanne.

"Yo dead chick, or whatever your nickname is. You got that crazy power up too?"

Roxanna, slightly insulted by her moniker being butchered like that, answered stiffly.

"Yea, if it weren't for him, I _would_ be dead right now. So why don't you shut the hell up and let him explain. Or do you _really_ think he'd ask for your limiters to be here while he hit on you?"

Logic finally prevailed in the room, and they quieted down, letting the meeting continue.

"Kazuya, how did you know that?" Ticy asked.

Kazuya took a breath to calm himself, and be more pleasant. He didn't want to bring any aggression to the table. There was enough of it from Arnett alone.

"Because I can _feel_ the difference in strength you gained."

"Look, it seems like some of you are getting impatient, so i'll just get right to the point."

He was going to lay it all out there, forgoing doing it gently. He just hoped that Stella took it well.

"It's no secret that I have a stigmatic body. It's the reason I could use freezing without being baptized. In short, that makes me part Nova. It also means that I can do things that other limiters can't, like giving that 'crazy power boost' as Arnett put it."

Everyone went wide eyed, even Stella and Rana.

"If the pandora is strong enough, I can force the transcendence. I can hand you that increase in power on a silver platter. In the case of Ticy and Roxanne, it would be a moderate increase in what they already have."

With baited breath, those in the room waited for what else he would say.

"But there's a trade off."

Stella, Rana, Lucy and Windy all knew what it was. But to them, it was a positive thing, not a reason to hold off on doing it.

"And what would said trade off be?" Elizabeth questioned, squeezing her partners hand, for some reason yet unknown to her.

"It would interfere with the baptism you performed with your chosen partner."

There was silence, as they all let his words sink in. All but one was unable to come up with something logical to voice.

"Interfere how?" The empress pressed.

When Kazuya paused, Lucy stepped forward to intervene.

"It will start small, but the bond never turns off. A constant stream of emotions is first. Then a vague sense of location. After that is the other senses, and finally thought. It is a bond of everything you are, shared between partners. The system in place is nothing but a poor imitation of what you'll feel."

If those words were text on a page, it sound pleasant, romantic even. But Lucy had said it with her usual monotone.

As Lucy said that, Kazuya had looked at Stella, watching as her eyes started to get bloodshot. She was doing her best to hold it together, and maintain a semblance of her untouchable image.

It was failing.

"Why?" She croaked, getting everyone to stop their own thoughts and look towards her, as Kazuya kneeled directly in front of her.

"I'm sorry Stella. I am Truly, wholeheartedly sorry. Had I not seen the things I have, been made aware of whats coming for us, we wouldn't be here."

The pain in her heart was effecting him, as his own regret of doing this to her added to it. Kazuya took her hand in his, guiding it to his chest, where she could feel the deep thump of his heart.

"Since I met you, i've wanted nothing more than to be your partner. The more I learned about you, the more I wanted that partnership to be more than just as pandora and limiter."

Satellizer finally lost the control she was holding on to, and tears fell silently.

Kazuya, wanting to show her his reasoning, did the only thing he knew that could show what he meant. The same thing that Lucy had done to him.

He grabbed the back of her head, clashing their lips together in a kiss.

Stella was surprised, not expecting it, but immediately gave in. Once she did, the image and voices came.

A flash of a range of endless color, Kazuya standing in front of a shadowed woman. Images of nova types they'd never seen, each more powerful than the last. FInally was the conversation between him and the woman.

 _To give the current and future generations the chance at happiness._

Those were the words that stood out to her.

She didn't like it, Satellizer never would. But she understood. If Kazuya didn't, then the future was already decided, and they would all die.

She had been given his full range of emotion during that conversation. He was confused, angry, disgusted…and then resigned to his fate.

When she came back to the room, Lucy was holding Rana back from pulling her and Kazuya apart.

She felt a hand on her cheek, wiping the tears away, and saw it was Kazuya. Her partner.

"I love you Satellizer, never doubt that for a moment. This isn't what I imagined for my life either, but it's the hand I was dealt."

He kept rubbing his thumb on her cheek, even when the tears had been cleared.

"You saw it, didn't you?"

Damn him, and his enticing touch.

Having grown afraid of being touched by anyone, and then finding that Kazuya didn't set off her phobia, she had started to crave it.

Anything from a hug, a brush of the hand, or a kiss, she wanted it all and so much more. If she could have that, Stella knew she'd eventually give in to anything he wanted. No matter how strange it was.

She nodded.

"And?"

Roxanne had started given a whistle at their PDA, Arnett was complaining about something to the effect of Kazuya being a womanizer, Elizabeth and Ticy were both quiet and contemplative.

"Why them too?" She asked, referring to Ticy, Arnett, Elizabeth and Roxanne.

"Because 6-" He started, only to have Windy jump in.

"7."

"Right, 7, is not enough."

Stella sighed, holding his hand onto her face, eyes closed.

"Who was that woman?"

The room was quiet enough, that his answer stopped everything once more.

"That was Maria Lancelot, my grandmother."

As the silence took over, Windy and Lucy took stock of the reactions. Predictably, most were unconvinced. Every human thought their mother was dead, merely a corpse to be studied. They were wrong.

"Bullshit." Ever the one to voice her opinion, Arnett spoke.

The mad dog rose from her chair, and stomped over towards Kazuya, Windy and Lucy letting her in favor of finding out what she'd do.

"You had me curious about this whole meeting. Now I know you're just spouting a bunch of crap. There's no way that you're related to the mother of all pandora."

The more angered her tone got, the more Windy and Lucy started to ready themselves, something that everyone else noticed.

"Arnett." Her limiter, Morrison tried to get her attention.

"You're just another guy who wants to fuck a bunch of girls with no strings attached. And somehow, you got these two over here to go along with it." She gestured to the two legendary pandora in the room.

"I'll prove it."

Windy was a twitch away from summoning her hammer and pummeling the girl into oblivion, Lucy was wondering how many pieces she could turn Arnett into before her brain shut down, should the cadet become a true threat.

"Arnett, please." Morrison tried, only to fail again.

Kazuya had stood up, and turned towards her. Stella sat there, still in her emotional daze.

"How do you do it? This transcendence thing?" Her voice was haughty and sure that she was right.

Not sure where she was going with this, Kazuya spoke.

"I had to kiss Stella and Rana to set the bond yesterday, but-"

"Fine." Arnett said, grabbing the collar of his uniform aggressively and pulling Kazuya towards her.

Lucy smirked, Windy fist pumped, as the first one of the group fell into their hands.

Kazuya had gone wide eyed at the sudden action. Once his lips met hers, his eyes blazed a glow, as they had yesterday.

From their seats, Ticy, Abel and Morrison watched his eyes turn into that of a novas, before they closed.

When she kissed him, it had just been a measure to prove that Kazuya had been full of shit.

And for a brief moment, she continued to think that she had won.

And then it happened. The world faded, as she felt something akin to an ereinbar set come over her, only vastly more potent. Every nerve tingled for a moment, before the very thing Lucy described assaulted her mind.

She pulled him closer, wanting to delve deeper, even if she didn't know what she was doing. Her tongue glided out and against his lips.

She felt Kazuya resist for a moment, before giving in.

Once their tongues collided, hers heated and his unsure, she felt his emotions.

Kazuya was just about in full freakout mode. She could feel his anxiety at this entire meeting, over potentially ruining things with Satellizer. He was still coming to terms with something. She couldn't tell what it was, but it was big, and it had something to do with those girls that showed up yesterday.

In a brief lucid moment, she violently pulled apart from him, causing Kazuya to crash into the side of the table, as she stumbled backwards out of breath.

"Fuck." She said, finger tracing her lips briefly.

He was a pretty good kisser. Which surprised her, as Arnett thought he hadn't gotten any from Stella or Rana.

"Arnett?" She heard Morrison call out to her from his seat.

She looked over, to see him looking very betrayed, but also in awe.

"Sup?"

The cadets all pointed behind her.

She turned her head, only to see something truly amazing.

Kazuya hadn't been lying.

He _could_ force that power boost.

That was proven by the wings of light extending from her back at this very moment.

"Welcome to the Family~!" She heard the pink haired peppy one say.

Arnett ignored her, as her attention was being pulled away from her wings and towards Kazuya, as an uncharacteristic surge of frustration bled to her, through this strange new bond she felt.

"Dammit Arnett!" Kazuya growled, standing up from where he'd been shoved, Stella and Rana at his side.

"Whats got your panties in a twist? This is what you wanted isn't it?"

Kazuya clenched his fist as he shook his head.

"No. What I wanted, was to give you all of the information first, before you could do anything impulsive! I wanted you to make an informed decision before my grandfather strong armed you into it!"

Taking a breath, Kazuya tried his best to smile towards Stella and Rana, and get them back to their seats so he could finish explaining.

Those who hadn't seen him yesterday, were still wary of his eyes, the memories of the times they'd seen it coming to the forefront of their minds.

"Please girls, sit back down."

Once they did, he turned back to Arnett.

Kazuya wondered if she felt so slighted all the time, like the world was out to drag her down. It was a sense of anxiety he'd felt before too, and sympathized with it. But for him, it wasn't as permanent of a feeling.

Underneath that, he could tell that she was worried about what he'd just said. Worry over what she'd just gotten herself into, was clear through her emotions.

There were an infinite number of ways he could use her impulsive behavior as a demonstration to what the others could expect, if they went through with it too. He was expecting to have them all decline, but the offer would be there nonetheless.

But if they were going to be working together, there would have to be trust.

Kazuya stepped towards Arnett, making her raise an eyebrow. She went to step away from him, as his hands went to each side of her face. He paused, hands inches away.

"I just want to help you." He spoke quietly, not wanting anyone else in on their conversation. Kazuya gently rested his hands on her face, as everyone else watched curiously. Gestures of intimacy were not something that Kazuya was known for, even less so if it were anyone beside Satellizer.

Most of his newfound abilities came as naturally as breathing, like there was a manual written into his DNA. But some things still would have to go through trial and error.

For example, his bonds with the legendary pandora could be manipulated as easily as activating his freezing. But with Stella, Rana and now Arnett, if he wanted to send a specific idea or emotion to them, it required concentration.

He knew he could do it, but the physical and eye contact were helpful.

His blue eyes glowed brightly, looking into her own amber, as Kazuya reached for the link to Arnett in his mind.

He saw her there, just as he could with the others. Name, numbers, likes and dislikes, it was all there. He pictured himself embracing her tightly and comfortingly, humming the tune he knew was nostalgic for her.

The others, except for Lucy and Windy, watched intently.

They all gasped, when Arnetts own eyes gained that same vertical line through it, and her stiff posture started to relax, and her wings of light blazed to life once again.

The sensation was something Arnett wanted to be greatly upset by. She could swear that she felt Kazuya hugging her, whispering into her ear the words she'd needed to hear since coming to genetics.

That even though she wasn't some rich girl, that she was just as valued as anyone else, that she mattered. The most effective thing, was when he said that her father would incredibly proud of what she'd accomplished so far.

She was loving this, but at the same time hated it with every fiber of her being.

She didn't want to be coddled! Arnett had proven that she was just as good, if not better than any pandora here, on her own.

She'd never felt anything so simultaneously blissful, yet agonizing.

 _Stop this._ She wanted to say.

Arnett saw herself kneeling in a garden, planting flowers she couldn't name, in a place she doubted even existed.

 _Get out of me!_ She wanted to scream.

A breeze picked up, letting her smell the flowers she'd planted by hand. Looking to the left, she could see rows upon rows of different plants.

Flowers, fruits, vegetables, all blossoming from her labors.

 _Let me go…_ Even in her own mind, her voice was losing strength.

A pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, radiating strength and warmth, as she leaned back into the unknowns hold.

The rest of this daydream, would never be spoken of to anyone. Unfortunately, she was sure that Kazuya would have those images burned into his mind for a good long while.

Arnett had wanted to fight back, to take control, but she had crumbled underneath that euphoria.

The Mad Dog of West Genetics, reduced to nothing but a submissive puppy, that wanted nothing more than to bask in the praise and attention of her master.

The Slashing Trickster had opened up the chamber of secrets to be plundered.

She should be livid at Kazuya for doing that to her, but she couldn't. She wanted to feel like he had violated, spiritually _raped_ her, but the venom left her tongue before the words ever could.

She had been the one to interrupt him, kiss him, and bring that damn bond onto herself. Her own impatience and desire to bring him down a peg had brought this about. She had been the one to escalate things in that dream anyway.

But she still wanted to prove a point. So every time the thought of 'I wonder if it feels that good for real.' She pushed it back as if the words were on fire.

 **You have waited patiently, and here it is. At least most of it. As of this posting I have about 3k for Next chapter.**

 **The reactions of each girl is next. Then the shopping trip, Ouka will be there too**

 **p.s I'm a bit drunk...give me a it to go over it again and edit. Happy New Years!**


	4. Secrets and Compromises

The pool was among her favorite places to relax, to let the stresses of the day fade.

For Elizabeth, the waters reminded her of days where there was no constant threat of a deadly deployment. While not as effective this evening, it still helped.

Today had not gone at all to her expectations. In some ways, it far exceeded them, in others it fell short by a large margin.

Floating on her back, naked as was her custom, the Mably heiress pondered what the best course of action was.

Yesterday had clearly shown, that the enemies of tomorrow, were not phased by the usual pandora weaponry. The only one she'd seen do any actual damage was Ticy.

So it stood to reason, that Satellizer, Rana, Roxanne and Arnett were the only other ones outside of the legendary four with any hope of success.

For that reason, accepting the offer from Kazuya Aoi was a no-brainer. For the sake of preserving mankind, she should join him.

But Andre… Her limiter, the one who held her heart firmly in his hands. What would happen between them? If agreeing to be linked to Kazuya would destroy their relationship, she wasn't sure it was worth it.

Surely others would come into the same power level, right? Someone else could take her place sooner or later.

She shook her head, forgetting that she was immersed in water, and immediately started coughing the chlorinated fluid out from her lungs.

"Are you okay Elly?" So lost in her own mind, she'd forgotten that Andre was at his usual post beside the pool with a towel.

He was sweet, attentive, polite, and among the top limiters.

Perhaps it was her more materialistic side speaking, but Elizabeth couldn't help but wonder what having Kazuya as her limiter would be like. This was all hypothetical of course.

She loved Andre dearly, but the seed had been planted.

Andre walked closer to the pool side when she didn't answer him.

"Elly?"

"I'm fine Andre, thank you." She said with her usual smile.

He nodded and stepped back, as she approached, ready to get out for the night. She was sure that her thoughts would continue to wonder, and being at risk of drowning was not something on her to-do list.

Even through the visor he now had to wear, she could see Andre appreciate the beauty that was her body. It never failed to make her feel beautiful.

"What is your take on the meeting today?" She asked, as she took the offered towel.

What a wonderful thing volt textures were. Once she was dried, she could be instantly dressed in her uniform.

It was a shame that Stigmata couldn't be mass produced efficiently enough to be sold for civilian use. Programmed correctly, you could sell dozens to a single person each year.

"I appreciate that we limiters were allowed in the discussion."

She paused in drying off one of her legs, to look at her partner.

It wasn't what he said, but his tone. Unless she was wrong, Andre seemed…resigned.

He didn't _really_ think that she would… Did he?

"Could you elaborate?" she kept her noble tone, even as her mind was shooting red warning flares.

Andre adjusted himself into the stance of when they would be lined up before their instructors.

He _did!_ Andre was giving serious thought to her _leaving_ him!

"If I hadn't heard the reasoning, hadn't seen the effects myself…It would have impacted me much differently."

Elizabeth dropped the towel, her face contorting into an unladylike scowl, as she stomped towards her limiter.

 **SMACK**

Her right hand came across his cheek with a force she had never brought on anyone before. His head turned with the direction of the assault, a red mark already starting to appear in the shape of her hand.

They stood there, motionless, for a few moments. Elizabeths deep and angered breaths heaving her chest, while Andre stood there looking off to the side.

"How dare you…" She growled out.

After _everything_ they had been through together, the moments and sensations they shared… She was appalled that he thought for even a moment that she would consider leaving him.

"My lady, you said it yourself, before the meeting. Kazuya Aoi has never done anything beyond his duties without reason. He didn't say it, but the message was all too clear to me."

Andre turned his head towards his partner, and even through the visor, Elizabeth could tell that he hated every syllable passing through his lips.

"Without the power of the legendary and transcendent, humanity is lost. What other choice is there, but to join him?"

He was pushing her away, conceding defeat in a battle that had only just begun.

"Why are you doing this Andre?"

She watched as his jaw clenched tightly.

"Why did you want to become a pandora Elly?" He returned.

Crossing her arms underneath her chest, Elizabeth glared at her _partner._

"You know why. Because I had the strength and compatibility to help protect those who weren't able to protect themselves. Noblesse Oblige…I can, so I shall."

Slowly, Andre nodded.

"Yes, and my enlistment was quite similar."

Her emotions, normally so under control, were running away with her right now. She wanted to scream at him, hit him, _something_ to make this stop.

"If joining Kazuya Aoi, better enables you to protect humanity…who am I to stand in the way of that? That _is_ the reason each of us is here."

"You would throw our partnership, our _relationship,_ away just like that?" She demanded incredulously.

Elizabeth was losing her final strands of control.

"He's not you Andre."

Her partner shook his head with a sorrowful smile.

"No, Elly, he's not."

Thinking she was finally starting to talk some sense into him, her smile had started to return.

"He's better."

Her heart felt like it had stopped, frozen, and shattered all at once. Andre was giving up. He was saying that it was for their duty, but she knew it was far more personal than that.

He knew that she had always wanted the best. The best clothes, the best make-up, the best reputation…The best limiter.

Kazuya Aoi _is_ the best limiter, everyone at the school knew that. And she had a ticket straight to him.

"He's able to transfer power between anyone connected to him, to best handle the situation. He can sense where you are, if you're ever in danger. He'll know all of your likes and dislikes in an instant. At some point, you wouldn't even have to be near him to communicate."

Andre took her hand in both of his.

"Kazuya Aoi is everything I am, and more."

Andre knelt down before her, bringing her hand to his lips, like a knight in front of his queen.

"I love you Elizabeth Mably, and I fear I always will. But this is about more than just us."

 **-LineBreak-**

It was strange, to have felt the disturbances she had today.

Pain, pleasure, regret, anger. She'd felt them all from the same source.

She wanted to find it.

Her sister had told her not to tell Kazuya about the details of their relationship yet, saying he wasn't ready to accept such a thing.

But Cassandra didn't understand why.

He knew that she loved him more than anything in this universe. Why should anything else matter?

But she had followed the instructions given to her by Lucy, as her sister had spent more time around him then any of the other sisters, at least for now.

This new bond, it was in desperate need of comfort, she felt. Not many could understand her, Cassandra knew that. Mental communication was so much more effective than speaking through your lips.

There could be no misunderstanding, no misplaced words.

The nuances of grammar and formalities escaped her. So Cassandra normally chose to keep quiet.

Since this person was newly bonded to Kazuya, and transcended, Cassandra could communicate with this person in her preferred way. But it would be best to do it in person.

So when Kazuya had fallen asleep in the embrace of her and her sisters, Cassandra made her move.

Looking at him, brought both pain and unbridled joy to her soul.

She loved him so much, but Kazuya reminded her of his father Ryuichi, and the act that brought about her daughter.

Cassandra shook her head as she stalked through the halls of this newly turned dorm. These were not thoughts she should be thinking right now. She had a job she had given herself.

Find the new bond, hold her, comfort her.

It was laughable, how the humans thought they could keep someone of her caliber contained.

She was the strongest of the pandora, this country could be leveled if she so wished it.

There were a few girls still up and wandering the halls of the 3rd floor, most of which turned and gave her strange looks.

Was she not appropriately dressed?

Looking down at herself, Cassandra saw that her tank top was still on, as was her underwear. So what was the problem? Was this not proper night-time attire?

Cassandra threw out the thought, knowing that they probably wouldn't answer her even if she asked. Humans were strange that way.

The bond was closer now, as she walked passed closed doors. A few more down and she would be there.

In a way, this new bond reminded her of Windy-may. She was lively, and ready to speak her mind, but harm those she cares about and there'd be hell to pay.

Cassandra counted the doors to her right, the side she knew her query was located.

17, 18, and….19.

She stopped in front of the nondescript metal object. Should she knock, or just try to enter?

A newly bonded would not know that she was there, possibly making her defensive if she entered without prior knowledge.

Cassandra raised her hand to knock, giving three light taps.

 **knock knock knock**

She heard shuffling, coming from inside.

"Go away." The girls voice was muffled, by the door or something else, Cassandra didn't know.

After a few moments of silence, Cassandra knocked again, a bit louder.

 **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

The shuffling came with a groan.

Cassandra looked at the whites, blues, and grays of the walls around her, waiting for the door to open. The sound of footsteps came closer and closer to the door before-

 **Click**

The sign of the deadbolt being moved came to her ears.

She idly wondered if it had just been locked or unlocked, before she heard the doorknob being turned.

"The fuck do you want?!" The door thrust open, and saw an angry redhead, much shorter than her, on the other side.

The new bond-mate kept her glare, as she eyed Cassandra up and down a few times.

Then her identity clicked, and Arnett went pale, realizing she was in front of a legendary pandora.

Cassandra wasted no time, and gently pushed her way into the room, Arnett at least wanted to seem like she was protesting, and gave a 'Hey! This is _my_ room, get out!'.

Once she stood far enough into the room, Cassandra pushed the door closed with her right hand, and repositioned the deadbolt once it was closed.

Arnett watched the tall busty blonde turn back around and take slow steps towards her.

"He put you up to this didn't he?" She asked, referring to Kazuya.

She wouldn't put it passed him, since he could no doubt feel the way her emotions had been fluctuating all night.

Surprisingly Cassandra shook her head no.

"Whatever it is you're sellin', I ain't buyin'! Now leave." Arnett pointed towards the door.

Cassandra kept moving closer, until they were nearly toe to toe.

Arnett had to look up at the woman, only to see that her longer arms were coming to encompass her.

She tried to move out of the way, but wasn't fast enough in her dazed, tired, and emotionally confused state.

Long, slender, soft arms wrapped around Arnett in a way that her _real_ body hadn't felt since leaving California.

"It's…Okay." Cassandra whispered out, to the girl in her arms.

This was something she missed greatly. Holding a child that needed her. Her time in stasis had done nothing but stall her body.

Her mind had been going nonstop, craving the touch of the little boy she had been the surrogate to. How he would cling on to her shirt as he slept, babble at her when he was learning to speak.

Cassandra knew, that Kazuya couldn't remember much of that time, maybe a flash or two of specific moments, but that was it.

That was okay to her, as she had him now. They were bonded for eternity. She could hold him again, and more.

"Let me go…" Arnett whispered, almost feeling like she was back in that dream. The main reason she was in here sulking and thinking by herself.

Just like earlier, it didn't take long before she crumbled.

A mere 15 seconds into this women's embrace, and Arnett had pulled her arms against her own chest, and pushed herself further into the comforting hug.

"Never." Cassandra responded.

The redhead was bonded to Kazuya now, that meant she was family, whether she knew it or not. And family, was the only thing aside from Kazuya that she cared about.

Unless Arnett harmed Kazuya, Cassandra would never forsake her, never push her away. Their bond was new, so her doing such a thing was still only slightly possible, if he didn't defend himself.

But even though Arnett seemed somewhat volatile, Cassandra doubted the girl would do anything like that.

"I shouldn't have kissed him." Arnett admitted weakly, an aspect of her that was making more appearances than Arnett was comfortable with.

Cassandra pulled the girl in tighter, feeling the continued mental struggle that Arnett was going through.

"Why?" Cassandra whispered.

She didn't understand. Who _wouldn't_ want to be connected to Kazuya?

"Because…I don't want to feel like this."

Cassandra didn't speak, just holding the girl a bit tighter against her. She wasn't here right now to try and convince the girl of anything, comforting her was the only plan.

Besides the fact that Arnett was permanently bonded to Kazuya, Cassandra knew without a doubt the redhead would come to enjoy it.

"I should've known Kazuya was telling the truth, he's too straight laced to try and pull something like just that to get laid."

The legendary pandora agreed. Setting up that meeting, just for sex, was something that Kazuya would _never_ do. He also wouldn't have needed to, he had more than one girl to go to for such things. Herself included.

"Is it like this for you too?" Arnett asked, slowly looking up to the blonde woman.

Cassandra merely tilted her head. She was powerful enough to force her own thoughts to be sent to Arnett, but the reverse was not possible.

"I've never been so content with a huge change like this…not _this_ quickly. And that's what scares me, the fact that I've hardly thought about Morrison since the meeting, like he's not important."

She dove back into Cassandra, holding the woman back tightly.

"We're not like Elizabeth and Andre, all lovey-dovey and shit. But that doesn't mean I don't care for the guy. I'm the only girl he had his eyes on, and now this happens…"

Cassandra considered using her voice to try and give her view on the events, but thought better of it. Instead she chose to give Arnett a set of memories, ones that not even Kazuya had delved into yet.

She wasn't sure how that would go over, once he found out.

Pulling Arnett back a bit, Cassandra leaned down to press her forehead onto the cadets, and closed her eyes.

The images, were of her time in stasis, the things her family had discussed in that space between dimensions.

Kazuha coming into that realm was the first, how she'd cried when she had been forced to leave her brother. It had been heartbreaking for all of them, watching the girl sob uncontrollably.

Then Chiffon after the incident in Alaska, that claimed her life. Chiffon had been upset with herself, because she hadn't spent nearly as much time around Kazuya as she'd have liked. She had relayed to the family, how Kazuya was progressing, and how proud of him she was.

Next was Lucy, how she'd said to Cassandra, that it was incredibly difficult to do the Valkyrie display, and not march into the stands towards him. The white haired girl had gloated about being bonded to him before anyone else.

The last one, Cassandra considered a bit of a peace offering. A short blonde girl, with a white marking on her cheek,'Arcadia 01' it read. The girl was getting impatient about being kept away from her 'Onii' and how unfair it was that she wasn't the first one to see him.

 _You bonding with Kazuya happened differently than he'd expected, if it were to happen at all. But the fact remains, that if you had transcended on your own, you would have been drawn to him all the same._

 _Kazuya wants what he said to those of you at his meeting. To continue doing your best to save the human race, only now he can give you something to make you better at it._

 _If there were a way he could do that, and not interfere with any relationship you have, you know that Kazuya would choose that path._

Arnett was wide eyed, hearing the womans voice so much clearer in her head. The images hadn't surprised her, as Kazuya had done something similar earlier today.

 _In time you will come to love him as we do. I cannot say for certain that it won't be difficult for a while, as i've never had a relationship like you and your limiter. But I_ ** _can_** _say, that it will be the most amazing thing you'll ever feel._

"Kazuya really _could_ turn me into nothing more than a slave if he wanted…couldn't he?" Arnett asked cautiously. Hearing that come from his mouth had definitely shocked all of those present, except Roxanne for some reason.

In fact, the American girl had seemed like she was about to go along with him, without having the meeting at all. Whatever Kazuya did to bring her back from Nova control, certainly had done a number on her.

"Yes." Cassandra spoke, she got the feeling that Arnett was more comfortable that way. But if a more complex answer was required, she'd have to use her method, to give a clear response.

The two stood in silence for a moment, as Arnett filtered through the events of the day. In her opinion, this was a bigger mind-fuck then the shit storm that the joint op had turned into.

"So…Why are you here comforting me? Why not go to Satellizer instead?" Not that Arnett didn't appreciate it, Cassandra a beacon of motherly warmth that Arnett had been missing all of her life.

But she had to question why the legendary pandora wasn't with the one that seemed to be hurt the most by what had been shared in that conference room.

 _Kazuya showed her why he has to do this, and now she understands. We could feel that she needed a night alone with her thoughts._

"There's more to this than what he said? What else would he need to explain?" Arnett questioned with a raised brow.

The mad dog of west genetics watched, as Cassandra actually looked like she was unsure of something. Arnett didn't think that was possible after this short exchange. Even the other legendary pandora she'd seen carried themselves like they knew what to do at every turn.

Cassandra came to a decision, and reached for Arnett once more.

 _This is…delicate information. We're keeping pieces of it away from Kazuya for now, so please, keep this between us._

After another exchange of memories, Arnett felt like she had certainly established an intimate relationship with Cassandra _Aoi_.

Plagued by a weakness from her body rejecting the very atmosphere around them, Cassandra had lead an emotionally taxing life.

Born to be a weapon, bred to be a mother, yet unable to be either.

White hot rage filled Arnett at seeing this compassionate beauty _raped_ by her own brother. Watching the baby girl that resulted be taken away to be put in stasis was…heartbreaking.

When placed with the other memories that Cassandra had shared, Arnett was of two minds, when she connected all the dots.

"This is so fucking kinky, I don't know whether to puke or rub one out." She murmured with a strange look on her face.

It was the kind of fetish stuff you'd see in bad porn. A busty blonde mother daughter pair, looking to screw the same guy? If Kazuya had been aware of Cassandra being the one to give birth to him, she'd start calling him Oedipus.

Arnett was damn sure that he was having a hard enough time coming to the realization that all of his aunts wanted to get down and dirty with him. Change one of those aunts to his pseudo-mother, and throw in a half sister too… the poor guy would likely lose his mind.

It was probably better to tell him on the last drag of the after sex cigarette.

 **-LineBreak-**

Every moment you were able to still draw breath was a blessing, a moment to be thankful for, a luxury that too many no longer had.

Roxanne knew this better than a lot of the cadets at any pandora training institution.

It was a fleeting thought back in the US, and even in Alaska.

But after the other day, when that Nova bitch had taken control of her, the phrase was given new life.

She laid there, naked and sweaty, the blanket only covering below her torso.

Shi-Jing was beside her, trying to catch some sleep after being worn down by his pandora partner.

Roxanne would _never_ forget how helpless she'd felt… _her…_ the now strongest cadet in the world, brought to her knees without even putting up a fight.

And then came in Kazuya Aoi, his unassuming and ordinary appearance belying the truly magnificent gift he had.

The boy was truly something else. She had felt him reach into her very soul, and drag her out of the darkness.

When Lucy came to her, as approachable as she'd ever been, and said that Kazuya wanted her to sit in on this meeting, she agreed instantly. Whatever he had to say, was something she'd listen to.

She had tried to grill Lucy on what it was for, but all she got for an answer, was that Kazuya was building a team to be under his command. Once Roxanne had annoyed her enough, Lucy had irritably elaborated.

The results were…interesting, to say the least.

One limiter for an entire group of Pandora? It sounded ludicrous, but so did pulling someone out of Nova control single handedly, without a fight breaking out.

"Rox, you never did tell me what that meeting was about." Shi-jing groaned, as he turned towards her.

Right…Lucy had said that her limiter was requested to be there too, but Roxanne had claimed him to be busy. She wasn't sure why she'd said that either.

Maybe it was just her way of trying to keep her pride as intact as possible. She hadn't told him about being controlled as she had. Only that things had gotten really touch and go for a bit.

In hindsight, that battle had really put her partnership into perspective. Almost as quickly as the real fight started, her and Shi-jing got separated, and Roxanne hadn't noticed until that nova had her cornered. It was an after thought, _he,_ was an after thought.

What does it say about a couple, when one of them has to be drunk to be affectionate physically? Nothing good, thats what.

The first time she saw him, Roxanne had been absolutely plastered, it was the most she'd ever had to drink. As he'd been walking by, it was like the sun came over the horizon, just to shine down on him. Love at first sight. Or so it seemed.

Her drunken babbling had pretty much forced him into being her partner. She woke up the next morning, head throbbing and stomach churning, to see a guy she only vaguely remembered.

And that admiration she felt the night before had gone just as her buzz had.

The first 6 months had been decent, getting to know each and how to work together.

After that, they were close, but still hadn't had sex since that first night.

'Friends with benefits' that's how they described things now. They enjoyed being around each other, but that attraction never came back the same way. They both had an itch, and a way to scratch it. So why not let things get physical again?

"Yea…about that…" Roxanne cast her eyes over to him, unsure how this talk would go.

Kazuya and the legendary pandora weren't really sure what would happen to the ereinbar set each of the cadets currently had, only that it was minuscule compared to the one they'd have with Kazuya.

Would everything else stay the same? The way Lucy had described it, made it sound like any feelings between pandora and limiter would start to fade away. Which wasn't that big a deal to Roxanne, but some of the others looked really offended by that.

If those feelings did fade, would any abilities? They'd hopefully still be able to cast freezing fields. If they couldn't…there was no point in them still being at the academy.

"Jing, we need to talk." She said, wanting to deliver it with a teasing smirk, but knowing that this was too serious a topic.

"The phrase men fear worldwide…" He said with a sigh, sitting up in her bed.

"Alright then, what about?"

He waited patiently, as Roxanne felt like she was giving him divorce papers. Not having him there, was a mistake, she now realized. Damn.

They weren't dating, or even romantically interested, beyond the occasional trip to the sack. So she shouldn't feel guilty about this…right?

"You were asked to be at the meeting too, but I didn't want my pride struck anymore than it had been during that battle."

With his legs crossed, and upper body hunched forward, he listened.

"Something happened to you during that joint op?" His voice was only a little concerned.

If something had, it obviously worked out all right, since she was here with him now.

Roxanne nodded.

"Yea, something happened."

It was already quarter to 1 in the morning, when Roxanne went into the full details. By the time she got to when Lucy asked her to go to the meeting, it was 1:15.

The ereinbar set was already disconnected, since the sex ended a while ago. Roxanne was curious about how Shi-Jing was feeling about things so far. She would admit to being curious about an always-on bond with a partner. To know how they felt at all times.

She wasn't a very girly girl, but having your boyfriend always know when your upset, and why, sounded pretty good.

"Then…what happened at the meeting?" Shi-Jing asked with a somewhat clipped tone. Roxanne saw as his jaw had tightened when she went into detail of how Kazuya had freed her.

Admittedly, her tone when describing the event, held a certain amount of reverence towards the young man.

"He asked each of us that had transcended, to join him."

She went on to explain that something the nova did, had given her this higher power, and then to the rest of the meeting.

When she was done, Shi-Jing sat there silently, his head tilted down. After a full 3 minutes, Roxanne was getting tired of waiting. Instead of asking him what his thoughts or feelings on the matter were, Roxanne activated their stigmata.

 _The system in place is noting but a poor imitation of what you'll feel._

Those words rang through her head as Roxanne felt the tingly warmth lightly caress every nerve in her body. The more recently used ones gave her a little jolt, still sensitive from earlier.

But that was quickly erased from her mind. Her partner was beyond angry, frustrated, depressed, or betrayed. She didn't know what to name this emotion.

Shi-Jing brought his head up, and gave her a look she'd never seen on him.

His eyes weren't narrowed, but they carried all of that emotion she could feel.

'Holy shit….he's jealous!' She realized.

His face was nearly as happy and approachable as it always was, except for his eyes. Even his voice stayed the same, losing that short tone he had earlier.

"And you decided to join him." He stated, already knowing her decision based on how she described things.

Lying was not something Roxanne the immortal did. She was honest and upfront. Delaying in telling Shi-Jing was as close to a lie as she'd ever gotten.

"Yeah."

Her partner hung his head, shaking it loosely, before reaching for his boxers just off the edge of the bed.

When he stood, and started dressing, Roxanne felt the need to cover herself up for some reason, which was _very_ unlike her.

Fully dressed, Shi-Jing walked towards the door. He stopped when his hand rested on the knob.

"I thought we'd finally get out of this 'fuck buddies' phase. Guess I was wrong."

He opened the door, took one stop before Roxanne paused his movement.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know."

Shi-Jing sighed, fully turning towards her, his expression full of sorrow.

"No..You didn't. Maybe joining him will be good for you, never having to guess what he's feeling… Goodbye Roxie."

 **-LineBreak-**

Satellizer didn't know how to describe her current mood.

She was finally, officially partnered with Kazuya, which made her extremely happy. But then so was Rana, and Arnett, and Lucy, and Windy-may, and Teslad, and Cassandra, which brought her down significantly.

She refused to be mad at him, after seeing the memories he shared with her.

The talk they had directly after the meeting had helped her to not feel so downtrodden. It showed that he thought of her first, proved that his love for her was real.

He had even asked Lucy and Windy to leave the room!

Stella was extremely self-conscious, about her image, her personality, basically her entire being except for her ability as a pandora.

Kazuya was always the one that lifted her back up, and that talk had been no different.

She would have written his praise of her off, if it weren't for her ability to feel how honest he was being.

 _Beautiful, elegant, compassionate_

Those were only some of the things he'd said. She wasn't too sure about the compassionate part, as she had a habit of thinking of her own feelings more than others. But if her partner truly felt that way about her, she wouldn't argue with him.

There was a decision to be made now, with how to proceed. She knew there was no going back for any of the girls Kazuya had bonded to. All they could do, was either ignore it, or try to make things work the best they could.

For a brief moment, she figured it was fate or Karma, cruelly intervening in her life. She had been born from an affair of her father, and her mother who was not his wife…Go figure, she finds herself in a scenario of one man and multiple women. She had thrown out the thought, noting every chance Kazuya had denied Rana in the past.

He had even explained in great detail, the massage incident that happened not too long ago. How Rana had surprised him, by asking him to massage just under her breasts, giving him full view of them.

Stella thought back to the adjectives Kazuya had used to describe her, noting one in particular was missing.

 _sexy_

He'd never called her that. Thinking of her uniform, Stella realized that she hadn't given him much cause to. He'd seen her in states of undress before, when her uniform got torn in a fight. But she'd never actively tried to entice him into coming to her. Never showed him more skin then she did anyone else.

If she couldn't be his only partner, girlfriend or lover, she'd be damned if she wasn't his first.

She was scared, had been ever since she knew Kazuya was the one for her, to take that final step into finalizing the baptism. But _god_ did she want to do it.

She had the lingerie, the lacy bits of clothing that revealed just enough to tempt a man into coming closer, into wanting the woman underneath. But was that what Kazuya wanted? A girl that would come into the room with clothes that were basically see-through, except for the key points?

Stella scoffed at the thought. If that's what Kazuya wanted, Surely one of the others would fill that role, she guessed it'd be Arnett… and how odd of a thought that was… _the others._

Stella was not the dirty girl, begging to be _fucked_ until senses blended together, and up became down, left turned into right, and sight became taste. No, she wanted to make _love._ To bond on a level they could only achieve as naked as they were born. To connect with him as physically, as they were spiritually.

But how? With all of these new events and revelations, achieving that seemed rather tricky. She knew Rana would be looking to get the same attention some time soon. She couldn't even begin to fathom what the legendary pandora, his _aunts,_ were thinking.

Stella tussled her hair with both hands in frustration. Fighting she was good with, a battle of romance and emotions…she was not.

But she would do as her mother said, she would never lose. Not in a fight, and definitely not in the race for the virginity of her chosen partner.

Stella was red-faced even in the privacy of her own room, as she planned how to get Kazuya in between her legs. Thank god for the miracle that was modern birth control, because he'd have no idea what she had planned until the time came. She would have time to plan when he was asleep.

"I'm ready Kazuya…I'll show you." She whispered into the dark that was her dorm room, teddy bear clutched to her chest as she tried to sleep.

 **-LineBreak-**

Teslad was a rather simple woman, at least she thought so.

She liked her tonfa blades, she found she liked ice cream, and she was competitive.

As was common amongst her sisters, family and Kazuya stood above all of that.

Here she lay, as the beginnings of sunlight started to batter against the window, the curtains containing it for now, leaving the room still pretty dark.

She had gotten arguably the best spot, in terms of progressing a relationship with her nephew, using his thigh as her pillow, pushing his shin in between her breasts. Now one would probably think, that his arm, or chest would be better.

It would give the chance for cuddling up together, and waking up to see that person first thing in the morning.

That was not how Teslad saw it, as she stared at the pulsing appendage before her eyes. Being in stasis for just about her entire life, had not made her ignorant of how the body worked.

Kazuya was sporting a major case of morning wood, and being the only one awake, Teslad was in prime position to take advantage of it.

Her hand came up to caress the fabric, looking for signs of how deeply Kazuya was still sleeping. She managed to wrap her hand around the pitched tent, slide it up and down slowly a few times before he even twitched.

This was perfect.

She hoped to get him off without waking him up, adding to the sense of arousal and sexual tension that the women were sending him almost constantly.

With as deeply as he was still sleeping, she was sure she could do just that.

A smirk came across her face, at the thought of how a certain young blonde would fume and pout if she knew what was about to happen.

The button on the boxers was mere childs play to undo with no one the wiser, and after some slight maneuvering of the underwear, her target was in sight.

For a boy of 16, he was rather well endowed, which probably had something to do with his genetics. Being the descendant of a goddess certainly had its perks.

She judged that with both hands clasped around his member, the upper half of the tip would still be showing. With any luck, she could accelerate the timeline of when Kazuya would be willing to mate with them sooner.

Was an omission the same as a lie? Teslad briefly considered this, as she wrapped her hand around him, starting to pump her hand slowly again.

She didn't think so. If he asked, why she would do this to him so soon, she would just tell him that she was only trying to help him. An erection that went unaided would lead to night emissions right? She could say that it was to prevent more laundry from having to be done, as well as make him more comfortable.

The motions of her hand, had him giving slight raises of his hips, and one little moan as he still slept.

Teslad pumped her hands a little harder, a little faster, and judged the response.

Being that Kazuya was still asleep, any thoughts to her ministrations were held from her, but she could tell that he was liking it. She got the feeling that he wanted _more._

He must have been dreaming about the blonde human, if he wasn't backing away.

As the first rays of sunlight finally came through the small crack in the curtains, the smirk on her face widened. If Kazuya wanted more, she would be glad to give it.

Teslad licked her lips generously, ready to get another step up on her sisters.

Her hand moved down to the base, as her lips came to rest on the tip. Before she could do anything more, she felt one of her sisters awakening, before a small wave of jealousy bled through to her.

Her eyes moved to the left, and saw that Lucy had woken up, seeing what her sister was doing. Amber eyes stared into dark blue for a moment, even as Teslads hand kept moving.

 _Cheater_

Lucy admonished her sister, with very little heat to the words. Her position last night, had been on the opposite leg.

Teslad opened her mouth to fit the circumference of Kazuya as she replied.

 _Let's see you complain, when you're pinned underneath him by next week instead of next month._

Teslad felt something moving, and saw that a hand had come to massage Kazuya along even faster, as Lucy took his balls gently in her hand.

 _Under? Oh no dearest sister, I plan to ride him all night long. I'll be on top._

Neither of the girls knew if this was typical sibling banter or not, as this was the only family they knew. They just figured it was, and moved back to the task at hand.

Kazuya started to twitch more frequently, lightly pumping himself into the mouth of his aunt.

Knowing that this was his first time receiving such treatment, Teslad figured he wouldn't last much longer, and she'd accomplish her goal of not waking him.

She took her hand away, letting her lips encompass more of him.

"mmmore." She heard Kazuya whisper. She had to hurry now, as it seemed like he was starting to wake up. She bobbed her head nearly down to the base, using her tongue along the underside, as her lips created a vacuum around him.

His arm held by Cassandra, which was angled just away from Teslad, moved to be placed on the side of her head instinctively. The purple haired woman took this as a sign to go a little further.

With each bob of head down to the very base, his tip came to reach her throat, Teslad fought a light gag that wanted to come out.

She felt the pulsing in between her lips, and the shuttering of his body underneath her. He was about to cum, and it was all for her.

His hips raised harder than they had before, twitching as they reached their high point, her lips resting directly against his pelvis as he shot into her mouth.

 **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Three sets of eyes, that previously had been asleep, opened wide at the rather loud knock at the door.

Fearing being discovered, Teslad and Lucy both pulled back, pulling his boxers over his arousal as discretely as possible. They underestimated a young man being around the group of girls of this academy, and the tension that had built up as a result.

One last rope came out of Kazuya, planting itself right onto the cheek of Teslad, just before he was covered back up.

Both Cassandra and Windy analyzed their surroundings in milliseconds. Windy was solely focusing on the door, and Kazuya, while Cassandra took in the state of her sisters as well.

Acting quickly upon seeing her eldest sisters gaze, Lucy shot over to Teslad, licking the semen from her cheek with an elongated stroke of her tongue.

This was the first thing Kazuya saw as he awoke, Lucy licking her sisters cheek. His vision was still coming back to him from the pleasant dream he'd been having.

"Why are you licking Teslad?" He asked blearily.

Cassandra saw the entire thing for what it was. Luckily, she didn't care who got to him first, otherwise Kazuya might have suspected something, if her emotions had fluctuated too much.

Teslad loudly swallowed the entire mouthful she'd gained from her efforts, getting a jealous look from Lucy.

 _I wanted to._ Was how Lucy responded, swishing her tongue around in her mouth. While that was the truth, she didn't elaborate on _why_ she had wanted to lick her sister.

 **Knock Knock Knock**

Whoever was at the door, seemed rather persistent, as the second round of knocks got louder than the last.

Still half asleep, Kazuya looked toward the window, seeing the signs of the sun starting to rise. He rose an eyebrow, wondering what in the world could be so important, this early in the morning.

It couldn't be a nova attack, otherwise there would have been an alarm campus wide.

Sitting up, he felt himself being drawn towards the door, which alerted him to _who_ it was, but not why.

 **-LineBreak-**

Her prayers to the goddess this morning, had been filled with a happiness that she felt was a gift from above.

No matter the circumstances, the fact was, that Rana was connected to Kazuya now. The manner in which it manifested, was greater than she anticipated. To _always_ feel him, was a blessing of the highest order.

She knew that Kazuya was the one, the moment she saw him, as the tears of kunlun vibrated on her back. Rana could finally be one with her soul-mate, as she'd always known should happen.

Rana was at first a little conflicted, but only briefly, learning that there would be more than just her and Stella. If the goddess had so easily told her that Kazuya was the one, perhaps she had a plan that required the others.

With that thought in mind, Rana had prayed that any bonds Kazuya formed would be loving and peaceful, as she imagined hers would be.

Finishing her prayer at the first sign of daylight, Rana felt her stomach give protest of not being attended to.

"First lights breakfast shall be….Ramen!" Rana exclaimed happily, turning on her heels and proceeding towards the building. Thankfully the amount of carbs contained within her beloved noodles, could be easily countered with some training.

She stumbled halfway there, as a spike of… _something,_ came through her bond, and immediately saw something curious.

A young woman, obviously a classmate by the uniform, with lightly curled blonde hair. She looked as though she had gotten zero sleep, her hair was frizzy and the most out of place anyone had ever seen it.

Elizabeth Mably looked like hell, just from the quick glance Rana had gotten of her.

Whatever it was that Kazuya was feeling could wait for a bit, her potential bond sister looked like she needed someone.

The empress was walking at a brisk pace, her longer legs giving her a stride that Rana didn't have. There may have only been an inch and a half difference in height, but that girl was all legs. Perhaps thats what made her breasts seem so much larger than her own.

Rana watched as Elizabeth glared at one of the women guarding the entrance to the D building, daring the guard to hinder her journey. Elizabeth wiped at her eyes, as she continued onward.

"Wait…D building?" Rana realized that the reasons for the third year to go there were slim to none. The gears turned, turning the wheel that was her mind. Rana hit her fist against the other open palm as the lightbulb went off.

"Ah! She's going to find Kazuya!"

But why would she do that? Why so early? Most of all, why was Elizabeth crying?

She jogged towards the D building herself, in order to investigate, the guard only giving her a quick glance. It appeared they had been placed on the VIP list, or perhaps recognized her from yesterday.

She watched as Elizabeth turned a corner, just as she herself passed into the building.

Coming around that same corridor, Rana ran up to the clearly distraught woman.

"Elizabeth, Good morning!" Rana waved cheerfully. A smile was infectious, she knew that well, and tried to use it to help her friends and comrades.

The empress was in no mood for distractions though, as her troubled eyes turned to Rana.

"Where is his room?" Her voice was hoarse, she had to have been crying most of the night.

Her normally clear blue eyes were bloodshot, the runny make-up revealed the bags underneath.

"Kazuyas room?" Rana asked, a finger on her chin.

Elizabeth nodded firmly.

Rana closed her eyes, focusing on what Kazuya had said they would eventually be able to do, but trying to force it to the surface now.

The bond was like a physical object in her mind, a tube filled with water. It could get hotter or colder, based on certain emotions. She had learned that during the fight, when Kazuya had been determined to bring Roxanne back. The rate in which the water flowed could also speed up or slow down, depending on the same things.

Whatever the feeling she had earlier from Kazuya was, it came back stronger, and pulsed just a bit longer before fading. It was very vague, but she thought it was almost directly above her.

"It feels like he's upstairs." Rana answered, as she opened her eyes again.

Elizabeth set towards the staircase immediately, her strides making Rana have to speed walk to catch up.

She threw the door open, walking up the first few steps as Rana closed the distance.

"Is everything okay? You seem quite tired."

Elizabeth gave one dry chuckle at the Tibetans query. In other words, Rana was saying that she looked like shit, and should go to bed.

"No." She answered the second year stiffly, rounding the corner that led to the second floor hallway.

Exiting the stairwell, Elizabeth took in her surroundings. It appeared as all the other dorm halls did, door after door down its length on either side. The quarantined block of buildings lacked the gender specific colors, however.

Light gray walls met the steel frame, and darker gray door.

There was a hitch in Ranas step, and she turned to the left. Whatever was causing Kazuya to feel this way, was pleasant, but completely foreign to her.

"I think he's this way." Elizabeth followed the girl silently, the only sound being the clack of her shoes on the floor.

As they approached the middle of the hall, Rana stopped and looked between three doors, trying to determine which might be the correct one. When that feeling overcame her this time, it was like the door on the right was glowing, telling her that he was beyond it.

"That's the one!" She pointed, and Elizabeth stepped up, knocking three times.

Just as she thought, Kazuya had been asleep, because right after that knock, her bond reconnected with the feeling and flow she was used to. She wondered if they would eventually be able to feel each other even asleep, at some point.

How wonderful that would be, to fall asleep beside each other, only to fall into morpheus to be united again. She admitted to herself, that they were probably limitations on what this bond could do. But it would be nice.

Elizabeth scowled when the door wasn't opened, and she could hear no sound from inside.

When she thought she heard mumbling inside, she knocked again, harder this time.

There were steps echoing from underneath the door, and all of the sudden, Elizabeth was not as resolute as she had been on the walk over here.

The decision that brought her here, to this door, was hardly her own. It had been Andre, to basically throw a bow on her head and present her to Kazuya as a present. He just _had_ to use her ideals against her in this matter.

It felt…degrading, in a way. She could feel the tears wanting to come back, as she remembered the way they'd left things last night. Elizabeth felt as though she was merely a tool, and not a person.

 _She's fit for the job, so she belongs to him now._

That was how she felt, after hearing the full range of what Kazuya could do, and her dispute with Andre. Elizabeth Mably was the heiress of an empire, a leader among combatants. What she _wasn't…_ was an object.

The door opened, revealing Kazuya still in his sleepwear, rubbing at his eyes to wake himself up.

As soon as he laid eyes on her, he could tell something was _very_ wrong.

His eyes widened, glancing briefly towards Rana for some sort of explanation. When she shrugged, not having an answer for him, his attention was entirely turned to Elizabeth.

She didn't _want_ to do this, but Elizabeth felt that she had to.

"Elizabeth, whats-?" Kazuya went to ask her what was wrong.

"Do it Kazuya." She interrupted, stepping up into his personal space.

He wasn't awake enough to take the step back, and ended up tripping on the door stopper that seemed to stretch out just for this occasion.

Landing on his ass on the floor, the empress descended on him, as 5 girls watched on with curious eyes.

The jolt from his fall woke him up completely, as Elizabeth sat her on his lap. Her hands gripped just to the front of his shoulders, as her unshed tears started to fall.

Only now did Kazuya notice her appearance, and how unlike her this seemed. She had always given the image of being in control, of being perfect in almost every way.

"Transcend me. Bond me to you for life." Her quiet voice shook with pain.

The mascara ran from her eyes, and the foundation she'd applied had been wiped away from her hands to wipe away the tears, revealing the all-nighter she'd had.

Kazuya didn't need the bond to know that this wasn't what she really wanted.

"Take me, i'm yours now." Her head fell down to his be almost pressing against his chest. Kazuya watched, one hand propping him up, the other on her back, as her blonde hair shook from trying to hold in her sobs.

"This is your choice Elizabeth." Kazuya started to explain softly. This right here, was what he feared would happen if his grandfather had gotten to the girls before he did.

"You don't have to-"

Kazuya wondered if anyone besides Rana and Stella had truly listened to him yesterday, as shaky hands grabbed the sides of his face, and Elizabeth forced her lips onto his. Even though, he very clearly said after Arnetts ordeal, that he didn't need the kiss to do it.

Try as he might, his body recognized what was being offered, and took it without his permission. He needed to get this under control, before anyone else did something they didn't truly want.

The link to Elizabeth formed quickly, and almost overwhelmed Kazuya by how distraught she felt on the inside. Distraught was not the right term…Devastated, was a better description.

Elizabeth wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, not letting him pull away, as she searched for any source of comfort. She needed someone to share this pain that had been delivered so quickly to her heart.

The deed was done, and there was no known way of taking it back, that Kazuya was aware of.

Giving in to her demands of wanting to feel something good amidst this barrage of horrible, Kazuya laid fully onto his back, both hands placed on her lower hip as he went.

His cheeks became wet with her tears, even as her tongue sought out his.

Kazuya searched for her in his mind, looking for even the smallest bit of insight as to what may have caused this.

When he found it, even his mental image of her was altered. Cold, alone, curling herself into a ball as she searched for any way to keep warm, as her naked form was barraged by a downpour of nonexistent precipitation.

The numbers beside her were disregarded, in favor of anything else.

Normally, Kazuya saw the girls standing as they would at rest, which proved how much she was hurting right now. Then there was her name. "Elizabeth Mably" was how he'd expected to see it. Instead, what he saw was "(Elly) Elizabeth Mably" telling Kazuya that she actually preferred the nickname Andre always used, but no one else did.

When he saw what she liked, he realized something interesting, as his right hand came to the back of her neck. She nearly fell into him, as his hand glided gently across her nape.

Her right hand guided his left to slide down and under the skirt of her uniform, resting on her panty covered rear.

His thumb traced along her neck, as his hand gripped beneath her skirt.

Elizabeth Mably, The Empress of west genetics, loved to cuddle. Her hobby of watching movies was merely developed because of her love for physical contact.

She was born in the upper class, which had a habit of abiding the 'look don't touch' rule.

Kazuya managed to pull his mouth away from hers for the briefest of moments.

"Elly" He uttered, as she kissed his neck, not knowing he'd turned his head.

That one word had her stopped on the spot, her face buried into the crook of his neck. She let herself lay out on top of her new partner, her arms tightening around his neck.

"He left me." The words were delivered right into his ear, but even then, they were still hard to pick up.

Kazuya wrapped her in his arms, one on the small of her back, the other on the back of her head. She took a deep and shuddering breath against him.

"Andre knew that I would choose him over my duty. And that I would eventually hate myself for it."

He could feel her tears streaking down from his earlobe, then down the back of his neck. Kazuya wanted to apologize, for being the reason that she was in such a state.

"This is not your fault. You gave us a choice, one that Andre made for all of us." She said, quickly interpreting the feelings being delivered to her. The guilt he felt, was nothing like she'd experienced with an ereinbar set before.

With his eyes closed, Kazuya had missed the spectacle of her wings coming to life, blazing vibrantly, illuminating the room and the hall.

"If there had been any other way I could-"

"I know." She squeezed him again.

Kazuya wondered if this was what she was like in the privacy of her room. The girl hanging onto him, as if he were her lifeline, was not the image that west genetics had of Elizabeth Mably.

Her public image was confident and righteous, not this soft and cuddly girl he had attached to him now.

Kazuya like this one better.

"He's leaving. Andre broke up with me, handed over the stigmata I gave to him, and is transferring to east genetics."

"I'm so sorry Elly." Kazuya had no other words that could fill in the gap she had right now. Only time would fix that.

 **-LineBreak-**

The Ravensbourne Nucleotide, the deepest and most guarded area of west genetics, was the site of many secrets.

Maria Lancelot, often referred to as mother of all pandora or the Holy Corpse, watched as the chamber directly within her fluid filled vision stirred.

Such invasive devices, were not appropriate for holding herself and the child that was contained within the other. In Eluka, she'd have disemboweled the alter-ego of the man who'd placed her here.

His greed, buried under humanitarian achievements, was nearly endless. The time that these beings had been at the top of the food chain, turned them into self-centered monsters, in her opinion.

They believed themselves perfect, the pinnacle of life, before she'd arrived. Communication had been nearly impossible, and even with the transfer of images from herself to Gengo Aoi, they were misinterpreted.

That was fine, as his actions had actually lead in a direction that could redeem them, it was only a matter of time.

She was a _goddess_ , and able to sense the balance and intentions of those around her.

Soon, her daughters and grandchildren, could lead these humans to see the error of their ways. Lead them to true prosperity. Only then, would the order seek sustenance elsewhere.

This project… _exit revenant…_ was only the beginning. Much like the hydra she'd seen in human tales, the head must be cut off, for a new and improved to take its place.

 _It is time to wake up Arcadia. Your brother needs you._

Kazuya, her grandson, he was the balance that would save this world. If they behaved appropriately, the girls that joined him would be welcome additions to her family.

He had much to learn, much she hadn't told or shown him…But first hand experience was better than anything else.

She watched as the lips of her captive granddaughter twitched. Her bronzed cheeks curving into a smile that she knew would be breathtaking, if not for that visor.

"Onii…." The girl whispered hoarsely, vocal cords strained from not being used.

Maria Smirked at the tone of reverence, the worship in the childs voice. She loved him so very much. Maria wished she was capable of that same feeling. But alas, being a deity of balance had its cons. Romantic love was beyond her…No matter how much Gengo claimed otherwise.

 _Yes, my princess of_ ** _War_** _…It is time to wake up, and show Kazuya how much you love him._

 **I think we'll end it here. We didn't get to all the girls, but I feel like Ticy should wait for the next one. And the shopping trip will probably take up a good amount of space as well, since Ouka will be there along with Suna.**

 **I'm going to tweak a bit of that scene also.**

 **When I posted the last chapter, I was under the impression that Roxanne and her limiter weren't that close. I know I read that somewhere, but don't remember where. The wiki is why I have them portrayed the I did, had to scramble and come up with a way to make it fit.**

 **For those wanting more action, and less time developing relationships…just give it time. The busters are coming.**

 **See ya next time!**


	5. A Brief Reprieve

It had taken almost 3 hours, but Ticy had been able to get Abel to talk to her, about all the things in that meeting. Those had been some of the most emotionally taxing hours of her life, that didn't involve a fight of some sort…Or at least not directly.

In front of the student body, Ticy had channeled any aspect of Chiffon, that she could recall. Her best friend was a good listener, compassionate, but frighteningly powerful. She knew when to be soft, or hard as stone.

When Chiffon set her sights on a goal, she achieved it.

In her room, or in company of someone dear to her, Ticy mostly fell back into her timid self. She didn't like being strong all the time. She knew she was physically gifted as a pandora, but asserting her power onto others had never been something she wanted to do.

As of right now, Abel was the only one left alive that she felt close enough to, in order to lower that guard. She needed to hear his input on what was proposed to them.

Although, looking at it from her position as student president, it was nothing but a massive headache waiting to happen.

Ingrid and Attia, were going to go absolutely ballistic, once they found out what happened with Arnett. They did not like it, when someone went against the established norm. It had been established in that way for a reason after all.

1st years had next to no experience. 2nd years had some, but they were mostly unrefined. That was why 3rd years tended to run things. They had the knowledge, the experience, and mindset of one who was only a short while away from being an enlisted Chevalier member, such as the 4th years who were slated as reserve.

Kazuya walking around, basically with a pandora harem, would only make it worse. Ticy was sure that a good portion of the limiters, and even staff, would see this as him doing some sort of power play. The girls not in the know would look upon his group with either curiosity, or disgust.

But they hadn't sat in that room, heard the way in which Kazuya explained everything he could, or seen that transformation with Arnett.

Once Ticy had gotten Abel to talk, she was relieved to hear that they both believed Kazuya did _not_ particularly want to do this.

Neither were entirely certain if they believed that he was the grandson of Maria Lancelot of all people, but her and Abel both believed he spoke the truth about future enemy threats.

Ticy had voiced her opinion, of not wanting her to join Kazuya, if only to save some sort of stability in the structure of the school. It was getting tossed on its head enough by Kazuya, she didn't need the extra headache of people wondering if Kazuya was trying to control the school from the shadows.

She wasn't really worried about her bond to Abel. Ticy had been called the smiling monsters shadow. At first it got on her nerves, but she'd come to accept it. It had only come about, because of her fierce loyalty to Chiffon.

And that was one of the best qualities she thought she had, loyalty.

Ticy would just have to make due, with the power increase she had gained by herself. She was not ranked the top 3rd year for nothing.

Both Ticy and Abel, however, were curious about the changes a bond with Kazuya would bring. What sort of benefits, that weren't under the control of Kazuya, could be brought to the field.

To satisfy this curiosity, Ticy and Abel were walking through the quarantined area, hoping to find one of the _students_ that were connected to him. She felt that would bring a better explanation, then the one they had gotten from Lucy.

To get an accurate description, they wanted to speak to someone who'd actually had a limiter before, which took Satellizer and Rana out of the equation.

So began the search for Arnett, as Kazuya had asked the rest of them to think on it carefully before answering, even if Roxanne looked like she'd already made up her mind.

They walked along the buildings first, wanting to see if she might be outside, before venturing into the maze that was the C and E buildings.

Normally, the scenery around her and Abel was taken in and enjoyed. The trees, plants, grass and small pond were things that she liked to just sit by and enjoy. Right now however, her eyes tossed away those things as unimportant, focusing only on her current task.

"Doesn't Arnett usually like to hang outside in the afternoons, with Creo Ingrid Attia and Elizabeth?" Abel asked from beside her.

Ticy nodded, her neutral expression she'd come to wear when in public view on her face.

"Usually, yes they do. Arnett may still be trying to cope with her new situation though. So there's really no way to guess where she could be right now. Our only saving grace, is knowing she can't leave the area of the three buildings."

They kept the search going, idly noting a woman in wheel chair being pushed into the D building, by a girl no older than herself when they were caught off guard.

"Hello there!" A peppy voice came from behind.

Abel jumped, turning around with a hand out and ready to place a freezing field. He'd been a little on edge ever since that field op, not that Ticy blamed him.

Ticy hadn't been as surprised, hardly even noticing the voice calling out to them, as she was lost in her thoughts.

When they both turned and looked at who it was, they saw a smiling young woman with long pink twin tailed hair. They each recognized her as Windy-may, one of the legendary pandora that had appeared from nowhere.

The power that her title implied, completely went against the image of this girl. She looked to be nothing more than a happy innocent young woman. Ticy knew looks to be deceiving though.

The student president of west genetics, was having a hard time not feeling like a mouse before a lion, as those amber eyes peered between her and Abel. Smiling or not, this woman was beyond dangerous.

"Whatcha doin' all the way out here?" Windy asked innocently, rolling from her toes to heels, hands clasped behind her back.

Ticy wondered for a moment, if she should just ask where Arnett was, recalling the part where Kazuya said he'd be able to tell where each girl was at any given time. Perhaps Windy could do the same thing.

"Do you know where to find Arnett? I'd like to ask her about any changes she might be experiencing." Ticy asked, her voice carrying a hint of authority, but also an undertone of genuine curiosity.

Windy tilted her head, giving the question only a brief moment of thought, before she broke out into another smile.

"Oh, the redhead right?"

They both nodded, and Abel spoke up.

"Yes, that's her, could you tell us where she is please?"

"Sure!" Windy exclaimed, then pointing over to just in between the back sides of the C and D building, where Ticy and Abel were just about to head towards.

"Our newest sister Elly is with her, over that way. I wanted to walk her back to her room, when Kazuya got pulled away for something."

There were two things that stood out to Ticy in that statement. If she was hearing correctly, the legendary pandora considered those connected to Kazuya as family? The other, and more surprising thing, was that Windy was saying that Elizabeth had already gone through with it.

She had expected Elizabeth Mably to deny it fairly quickly. So what changed?

Ticy felt she must be more mentally occupied then previously thought, because all of a sudden, Windy-May was directly in front her.

The pink haired legend was eyeing her curiously, like she was dissecting some sort of small animal, looking to find out how it works.

"What is it?" Ticy asked, once the scrutiny of that gaze started to become uncomfortable.

Windy gave her another once over, before moving back, that easy going smile coming back into place.

"Oh nothing~! Gotta head back now, talk to you later!" Turning on her heels, Windy-May strode away, humming to herself.

Ticy watched her go, wondering what that was about, when Abel brought her back to their task.

"Did I hear her right, has Elizabeth Mably already joined him?"

Looking at her partner, Ticy saw that his face expressed exactly what she thought on the situation, his brows and lips contorted in utter confusion.

"I thought she'd be the first to decline, with how close her and Andre are."

Ticy gave a small nod to him, it didn't make any sense to her either.

"Why don't we go see for ourselves?"

 **-LineBreak-**

"He did _what?!_ " Arnett in a harsh whisper, staring wide eyed at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was still feeling off balance from the large changes to her life, and had her arms crossed against herself, like it was all that was keeping her intact at the moment.

It was strange though, while in that desperate state to ease her pain, Kazuya had done more than she thought possible. For just a few moments, she'd forgotten about the heartbreak, and was just enjoying the feel of him.

Once their lips had disconnected, and he'd removed his hands from her body, it had returned in a throbbing ache. She wanted Kazuya to make it go away again.

"He knew the choice was one i'd have trouble with, so he made it for me." Her head turned to the side.

"Why's that? You and Andre were like the model couple."

"Because I-" Elizabeth stopped her response, and both girls looked to the side, where they saw Ticy and Abel coming towards them.

"Elizabeth and Arnett, good afternoon to you both." Ticy said with a smile that was between her current persona, and her old one.

"And to you too" Elizabeth was glad that Kazuya had a shower she could use. Having Rana see her in such a state was bad enough, even though she knew the Tibetan would keep that to herself.

"What's goin' on Ticy, need something?"

Arnett took in the curious yet serious looks on the pair, and had a pretty damn good idea on what they wanted to talk about.

"Yes, actually, I was looking for you Arnett, when Windy-May mentioned the new partnership of Elizabeth and Kazuya."

The empress did not look pleased at her personal business being talked about so casually, but knew that it was going to come out sometime soon anyway, no matter what they did.

"And?" Arnett prodded.

Ticy felt that she was walking on a tight rope, but didn't know what would cause her to tip to one side and fall.

"From my understanding, Kazuya doesn't know the more personal details of what happens between the previous bonds. So I would like to ask for your own input."

Elizabeth made to respond first, but was greatly surprised when Arnett raised a hand to stop her, as she'd never done that before.

"Mine is the oldest, where there was another limiter involved, and that wasn't even 24 hrs ago. I understand you wanting to know, but it's too soon to really give you any sort of _real_ answer."

Ticy hadn't considered that point. With the information given to them, the minds of the women involved were likely to be near overloaded with the situation still. The thoughtful expression on her face had Elizabeth wanting to throw her a bone.

"You have Abel with you, so I assume the two of you have spoken in detail about this?" The conversation was as much of a distraction as she was going to find at the moment, and she needed it.

"We have." Ticy answered with a nod. "I'm almost certain in my decision to decline, but we felt that more information would be good to have."

Neither girl asked about her reasoning. No one really knew the state of the relationship between Ticy and Abel, and before she'd become the student body president, none had cared except Chiffon.

"If it's not too much to ask…" The two guarded themselves for a rather personal question.

"Could you just give us your best interpretation? I don't anticipate my decision to be final for another week or so. I just want as much info as possible."

 **-LineBreak-**

"You want me to _what?_ " Kazuya wasn't sure he'd heard correctly.

"Take them out, go shopping, do something other than sitting here."

His grandfather must have forgotten one very important thing everyone involved in that joint op was told.

"We're placed under quarantine! By your own order no less!"

Gengo waved off his grandsons response, like it was of no consequence.

"That was just a precaution I put in place, because I didn't want the legendary pandora stalking the grounds looking for you. I'll have Suna go along, just so Sister Margaret can have a little peace of mind."

The way that his grandfather had the strongest active pandora, other then the transcendent or legendary, acting in whatever fashion he wanted was mind boggling. In his opinion, she deserved to be treated like the other elite pandora.

But perhaps she wanted this. He certainly had never seen her look like she disliked her current standing.

"You could bring the other girls along with as well, i'm sure they would enjoy a chance to get out for a bit." His grandfather said, stroking the stubble from not shaving the last few days.

"Speaking of which, how did your talk with them go?" And there was the part Kazuya had been waiting for. He was honestly surprised that wasn't the first thing out of his mouth.

"As well as could be expected…mostly." Kazuya added, thinking of how Arnett had handled the situation.

"Have any of them agreed?" Kazuya had to think on how to respond to that.

Technically, neither Arnett or Elizabeth had really made the choice by themselves. But no matter how it came about, they were connected to him now. Kazuya was not looking forward to talking to Morrison, but knew it was necessary. The air needed to be cleared between them, and figure what was going to happen next.

"Arnett Mcmillan and Elizabeth Mably." Kazuya responded simply. In the end, it was going to be his responsibility, so the details of that story didn't matter to Gengo. As much as he didn't like the implications, Elly had put as close to the truth as anyone could.

 _Take me. I'm yours now._

They were _his_ girls. For most of them at least, that was in a romantic sense as well. Arnett still had Morrison, and he would not get in the way of that, even though their chances together had dwindled drastically now. From what he understood, whatever feelings Arnett had for him would fade, as their bond strengthened.

Kazuya wished he knew more, but he didn't think it would be too long before she started seeing him in a different light. He could feel her emotions towards him already shifting.

" _Really_ , the Mably heiress is already on board huh?" Gengo said quietly, more to himself then his grandson.

"The tally for the ones coming along with me?" Kazuya asked pointedly, wanting to get out of his grandfathers space. If there would ever be a time that they interacted with reservation, it was still over the indefinite horizon.

"Suna, your aunts-" Gengo seemed to take some sort of pleasure in mentioning that part. Like a long term plan had come to fruition.

"Rana Linchen, Satellizer El Bridget, Elizabeth Mably, Arnett Mcmillan, Ticy Phenyl, Roxanne Elipton, and Ouka."

"Why Ouka?" Kazuya asked with a raised brow. She wasn't even a pandora, and he had assumed this was a measure to have them get along better. Not the brief reprieve his grandfather claimed it to be.

Suna would also be reporting the happenings of the trip to him, so his grandfather could undoubtedly hatch further plans.

Gengo shook his head with a small smile, looking like a teacher tutoring a student.

"Kazuya, you have much to learn about the politics you will be imbedded in soon." A political reason…? What sort of politics could there be in a situation like this? The pandora were a paramilitary organization.

He wasn't against spending time with his cousin, they got along well when she wasn't spouting about how they were supposed to be getting married. But this just didn't…make…

"You've got to be kidding me!" Kazuya exclaimed, as the gears of his mind turned the wheel.

With all that was happening, his grandfather couldn't _seriously_ still think he and Ouka would still be getting married, right?!

How was that fair to her? To be forced into a relationship where her husband would have other women?

"Then give me another alternative Kazuya. Tell me another way, to keep the vultures in the Chevalier from attempting to coerce you into their own schemes."

Kazuya clamped his mouth shut, feeling like a small child once again, under that hardened and experienced gaze.

His mind was developing into more of a strategist, but politics operated under rules of their own. Combat maneuvers were not well suited in that arena.

"It is unfortunate and manipulative, I know. But Ouka loves you, in her own way. And she follows my word as if it were law. As much as you may want to marry the El Bridget girl-"

"Her _name_ is Satellizer!" Kazuya interrupted. Gengo continued without skipping more than a beat.

"-It would be seen as favoritism, and some sort of plot between myself and Howard. The same thing would happen for Mably. Elipton and Arnett would just be chaos, considering the tension between the US and much of the world. So _yes_ Kazuya, you should bring Ouka along with you. And _yes_ , given your current situation, she is the best choice for a wife."

Kazuya sat there, stewing in anger while also trying to test out everything his grandfather said.

Assuming that things developed in that way, Kazuya couldn't argue with the assessment of marrying Roxanne or Arnett. While Arnett was born in Sweden, she'd lived in the US for much of her life. America had been making power moves, wanting to reassert themselves as _the_ superpower in the world. It hadn't been working so far, and with Japan housing the strongest pandora, their attempts would be even more useless.

Of course, this was all just hypothetical, scenarios in his mind that implied that both parties _wanted_ to get married. He had no such desires. The only person Kazuya could even fathom wanting to marry at this point, was Satellizer. And that would be far down the road.

"Why can't everyone just stay out of my personal life, and let me eventually marry the one I love?" His voice was much quieter than his previous outburst, as he sank into the chair.

With a sympathetic, yet chastising look, Gengo answered.

"Your father wanted the same thing, and did just that, against my recommendation. When the time for his duty to mankind approached, he refused."

Kazuya hadn't seen the vision of all that had happened with his father, but he could recall the moment in question. His aunts in stasis tubes, the father telling his son about how they were to bear him children.

He wasn't sure that, if put in the same position, Kazuya would anything differently. But times were different then. The Nova threat wasn't as active or as powerful as it is today.

Just within the last 2 years, there had been 3 Nova Clashes.

So as much as his situation might cross his line of morality, there was no denying the necessity of it. If only following through with it, was as easy as recognizing that… Kazuya and his aunts knew that there was more to come. His available time coming to terms with his _duty_ was quickly receding.

"And look where that got him…right?" Kazuya bitterly acknowledged what his grandfather was saying.

"Unfortunately, so take the girls out, and have a good time okay? Who knows how long it'll be before something else happens." While perhaps only meant as a way to encourage his grandson to enjoy the day with some beautiful women, Kazuya caught the underlying message.

 _Hurry it up and get those other girls before we all die!_

"Fine Gramps, you win." Kazuya said with a sigh.

'I just hope everything goes well.' Taking a group of women shopping was not most mens idea of an afternoon well spent. Even less so, when those women were capable to great feats of destruction given the right motive.

He was saying that they were _going_ to do something like that, but the females in question had not been particularly calm the last time he spoke to some of them.

 **-LineBreak-**

"I've come so far…Rattle…Gina..Everyone."

Looking out over the complex, clear blue skies with the sun shining down as if all was right in the world, Amelia Evans took it in stride.

Her mission wasn't necessarily a pleasant one for her, given the history between Scarlet Ohara and herself.

But it stood to prove a point, that she had gone above the assessment the doctor that thought so little of her and her now deceased friends. The fact that _she_ , an E-Pandora candidate now held all the capabilities of the regular pandora, made her both happy and sad.

"Is it nice over there, where you are? Or is it the same as it is here? I hope you're doing well, relaxing and enjoying yourselves."

Her transition had come at a price, which had almost been her life. But she had been fine with that, knowing the chance when she started that rebellion. A woman of untold strength and compassion, along with her friends and comrades, had all lost their lives for her to be here right now.

"Amelia Evans!" A voice called out from behind her.

Turning, her once again crimson hair fluttered as the breeze picked up. It was a surprise to have anyone call out to her, as she wasn't sure anyone would be around to remember who she was. She'd also heard a few rumors that some circles thought her dead.

What she saw, was a group of women, most of whom she had met before. The ones she hadn't, were known to her from the one who had taken her place in death.

"Elizabeth Mably?!" Amelia could feel the turn of her lips, unable to help the smile that blossomed, and the sting of tears building in her eyes.

The woman who called out to her, had been a frequent thought in the months since they last saw each other. The rich girl that had proven herself to be different from most, and actually cared about others.

Elizabeth ran up to her, wide eyes and a surprised gasping smile, as did two of the others. The last two, merely followed along, curious as to who this new person was.

As she got closer, Elizabeth slowed into a walk with large strides, and Amelia could see that her own tears were reflected in the heiress.

"Amelia…" Her voice was so…. _relieved_ , and it did her heart some good, knowing someone still cared.

"You..came to see me?" Amelia asked, truly curious about what they were doing out here in a restricted section of the West Genetics campus.

"I'm so glad…you're okay." Elizabeth managed to get out, placing a hand on each shoulder once she reached Amelia. The tears flowed freely between the two, and neither saw reason to wipe them away or try and stop them.

"I've been wanting to see you again, for a long time now…"

Feeling that the emotional greeting had been played out enough, Amelia turned to the others still walking their way.

"You must be her friends from Genetics. Roxanne, Rana, we met back in Alaska." Amelia greeted the other two she knew personally. Turning to the last two women, Amelia felt strange, because she felt as though she _knew_ them.

The transfer of thoughts and emotions from Chiffon was something she would never understand, but it felt like fate to see them here all together.

"Ticy Phenyl, and Arnett Mcmillan too." Both girls opened their mouths slightly in surprise, wondering how she knew who they were.

"How do you know us?" Arnett asked, and Amelia smiled more, relating this to what Chiffon felt about the girl known as the mad dog. Ticy on the other hand, looked different than what Chiffon remembered.

Her hair was shorter, almost a carbon copy of the smiling monster. The expression on her face was torn between stoic and vulnerable.

"The person who saved me, Chiffon Fairchild, told me all about you."

There was a light of recognition in the eyes of Arnett, and less so in those who had gone to Alaska. Ticy was left confused.

"You may not believe me, but…When we connected, everything in her heart flowed through to me. Chiffon…She left me with a message, for each of you."

Having everyones attention, Amelia was finally able to give the message she'd been holding onto, repeating in her head for months.

"Elizabeth-" The blonde haired 3rd year had wide eyes, surprised to be not only mentioned by Chiffon, but to be the first one.

"Carry that noble heart of yours to very top." Amelia turned to the swedish redhead.

"Arnett, be careful not to let your kindness get you into trouble." The expression Arnett gave her, was one of a person stupified. Never had Arnett really shown that hidden side of herself to Chiffon.

"Rana, get along with Satellizer okay? He needs you two to work together." The man talked about was obviously Kazuya, but the way Amelia understood things, that was a near impossible scenario. She had no knowledge of the happenings of the changing relationships.

"And Ticy…" Amelia couldn't help the reappearance of the tears. The strength of the bond between Chiffon and the young woman before her, was immense. It was like that of her own comrades all rolled into one, but between these two people instead of a group.

"I'm sorry, that I couldn't stay by your side." The student body president felt her lip quiver, and her own emotions start to get the better of her.

"I'm truly, _truly_ sorry." The gates were broken, and Ticy fell to her knees, sobs wracking her body relentlessly. The others watched, sympathetic to the loss she had sustained, and had been unable to do anything about.

It was Elizabeth that knelt beside Ticy, stroking her back and giving words of comfort, as the others didn't feel that they were close enough to do the same.

For what felt like hours, they stood as Ticy tried and failed to recompose herself. Nearing the 5 minute mark, she was able to wipe her eyes, and no more tears fell.

"Rana, there you are!" The group heard another voice from behind them.

Amelia caught sight of Satellizer, walking with a dark haired girl of similar age, before the rest.

The others looked from Satellizer, and towards the new girl, like they were curious about her being there. To Amelia, it seemed as though most of the group had been in search of each other, when they stumbled upon her.

And for whatever reason, they weren't expecting the other girl to be accompanying her.

"I thought we were all supposed to meet up at the gate?" Satellizer questioned, with a tilt of her head that had her glasses close to falling off.

Now that Amelia took the time to take a closer look, she was surprised to see that each girl was dressed for a day out, instead of wearing their uniform.

She thought that the rules stated the uniform was to be worn during normal school or business hours, even on days school was in session, to build a sense of uniformity and inclusion. She was exempt, because she wasn't a student here, or at any of the genetics locations.

"We were on the way there, and we bumped into Amelia here." Roxanne stated, a thumb pointing back to the crimson haired ex E-pandora.

"Amelia…I thought…" Satellizer started, only for Amelia to wave her off, knowing what she was going to say.

"No, i'm not dead. Alive and well, as a matter of fact." Amelia gave the blonde woman a welcoming smile.

"It's good to see you as well Satellizer." The second year fidgeted a little, being caught in uncomfortable situations affected her more than most.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. It's good to see too."

Amelia had to wonder what had gone on since the last time she saw the majority of this group. Satellizer seemed much more welcoming now, compared to before. Satellizer hadn't been antagonistic towards her, but she hadn't really been welcoming either. It was more like she didn't know how to interact with people that well.

It was a curious thing, that Chiffon hadn't given her a message for Satellizer, perhaps she had already been on the path Chiffon had thought best, and there was nothing more to say.

The one who saved her life, seemed wise beyond her years, so Amelia had no reason to question it. If her savior saw something in these girls, who was she to question that judgement?

"You girls look like your about to hit the town." Amelia said, while she was dressed more like she was heading to work.

Satillizer was in a green spaghetti striped top with light colored jeans that hugged her form rather snugly.

Rana wore a dark blue shirt with a deeper neck line, khaki shorts with leggings underneath.

The others, except Elizabeth and Ticy, were in a skirt of varying colors, along with a button up shirt.

Ticy had on a black button up shirt, and slacks. She gave the impression of a high ranking employee, rather than a girl still in high school.

Elizabeth was donning a white sun dress, showing off her impressive legs, her lengthy blonde hair pulled over one shoulder, giving an unobstructed view of her neck from one side.

"Well…You wouldn't be _wrong_." Roxanne said, rubbing at the back of her neck.

"But I thought this whole place was a lock-down of sorts?" At least, that was the info Amelia had been given.

"Oh it is, but this is a special case." How someone had managed to sneak up on everyone there was unknown, let alone _five_ people. The collective group turned to see not only Suna, but all of the legendary pandora as well.

If Amelia had felt outclassed by any of the West Genetics students, in terms of appearance, that was nothing compared to the women approaching now.

Each of them were the epitome of perfect in their own ways. There was the tall blonde beauty, whose elegant silence spoke more than most words ever could. The cute and peppy pink haired girl, with an exuberance that would have most eating out of the palm of her hand.

While shorter, the silver haired, cool and collected one no doubt was less of a stunning young woman. Standing next to the more athletic beauty, apathetic to almost everything, her eyes scanning over the landscape in search of anything that might interest her.

The woman in front, Captain Suna, was beautiful in her own right. Unfortunately, she had no chance against the ones she was guiding.

Arnett and Roxanne seemed more at ease with them being here, as opposed to the others, who were still unsure of how to act around them. Roxanne didn't mind, because she didn't feel threatened in any way by them. While Arnett had gotten a chance to be alone with one of the legendary four.

Ouka on the other hand…Looked more effected by the new arrivals than anyone.

She knew that they were somehow important to Kazuya, but not the specifics. There was already a rivalry of sorts between herself and Satellizer, she didn't like the prospect of more competition.

"C'mon now, you don't want to make the poor guy wait _too_ long. Kazuya is already nervous enough." To Suna's comment, four of the girls nodded, those who were bonded to him but not the legendary.

"Yea! Let's go give _our_ man some things to fantasize about" Ever light hearted, Roxanne seemed eager to get going.

With promises to catch up more at a later time, Amelia bade them farewell. But something stuck out to her as she was once again left alone with her thoughts.

"Wait… _our_ man?" What in the world did that mean?

 **-LineBreak-**

"Nnnnnnn it feels like forever since i've been out!" Suna exclaimed, giving a stretch of her arms and back.

When she opened her eyes, the only one relatively close to her had a look of defeat etched onto her face.

"Hey now, whats with the frown? Not happy that you were included?" Ouka was standing next to the leader of platoon 13, glancing from Kazuya, then to any one of the girls along with them.

Ticy wasn't really close enough to be included in the group, but nor was she hanging back with their chaperone.

A smirk of a teasing nature came across the face of the strongest chevalier pandora.

"Ohhhhhh~ I get it. Are you nervous because of the girls crowding him?" Suna knew that was the problem, at least partially. She also knew that the girl had nothing to worry about, having been at the back of the room when Kazuya had been talking with the professor.

She was sure that Kazuya might continue to have reservations about the whole marriage ordeal, but there was no denying the logic of Gengo Aoi. He'd come around eventually.

They hadn't been in the commercial area for that long, and the whispers had started nearly the instant they stepped foot outside of the train.

 _Who are they?_

 _Check out the taller blonde one, she's hot!_

 _Is there some sort of model convention or something?_

 _Its like she's a sculptors masterpiece come to life._

While Cassandra was certainly grabbing the most attention, the others were having praise heaped onto them as well.

"He should be spending time with _me,_ his _fiancee!_ " Ouka gave a dramatic huff and turn of her head.

"But whatever, I suppose all I have to do is wait. Men have historically returned to their wives, this little harem fantasy he's playing out right now will pass, and then we can be together like we always should have."

Suna had faded out from what Ouka was saying, realizing that the girl was just trying to convince herself that there was no threat to her relationship with Kazuya.

'I wish at least some of the guys would look at _me_ too.' She thought. Suna wasn't even interested in finding a guy to date at the moment, but it was more of a self confidence thing.

She _knew_ she was good looking, but it was hard to deny that she wasn't being outshined by the legendary pandora.

Suna had to hold back the chuckles, when she caught a comment here and there, questioning why Kazuya was hanging out with this particular group. Most assumed he was escorting them somewhere.

"It's strange though…" Ouka caught the captains attention when her tone shifted.

"It's not just how they look, but those legendary pandora have this…aura, like they are supernatural or something." Ouka finished, a contemplative look on her face.

Suna understood what the girl meant. Looking at them, the ones mentioned just exuded this otherworldly presence. Maybe it was the looks, added to the clear confidence each of them held. It was more evident in Lucy and Cassandra, each of them looking around, _knowing_ that they were a step above those in the area. Windy-May seemed to be utterly fascinated by the shopping district, and Teslad was looking at all the food intently.

She wondered what was going on the purple haired womans mind. Suna tried to lighten things a bit, by taking a crack at Ouka.

"Its okay to admit they're better women, you know." Suna got the expected response, as Ouka stiffened. Her shoulders were tense as she glared at the elite pandora next to her.

"That's not what I meant!" Ouka started to pout, eyes blazing and cheeks puffed when Suna started to laugh.

Realizing that she'd been played, Ouka ran her hand through her hair, pushing some of it behind her ear.

"But I can't help and wonder, what he's thinking this time. The professor I mean." Ouka tried to regain the serious attitude she had a few moments ago by altering the subject.

"The legendary pandora certainly don't need bodyguards. And he even told me not to do anything stupid!"

The Valkyrie leader had been thinking on this since she was told about the shopping excursion. The last time she had spoken to Gengo Aoi, he had talked as if her engagement was being sped up, and she'd be married to Kazuya before he finished school.

This time however, he had talked to her as though she was almost in the way of whatever plan he had brewing.

"I think Professor Aoi is hoping to swing the odds in his favor." Ticy entered the conversation, her eyes glued onto Kazuya being lead by the hand of Windy-May to a shops window.

"For those who have yet to make a conclusive decision, I would be willing to bet that he thinks some time spent off campus would help." Suna had to applaud the third year girl in her deduction.

She had actually asked a similar question herself to the man, and his response was almost exactly that.

The school was a place where the girls in question would try and act in the way that the people around them had come to expect. That would not bode well for what he was hoping would happen. All transcended cadets bonding to his grandson.

"What are you talking about? A decision about what?" Ouka asked, somewhat heatedly.

Iris' the color of stainless steel shifted from Ouka to Suna, who merely shrugged, knowing what the student presidents line of thought was.

"I wasn't told that she had to be kept in the dark, she _is_ supposedly his betrothed."

Both women ignored the indignant "HEY!" from Ouka.

Ticy pondered on whether she should inform the valkyrie or not, as the group continued on, Suna turning off to grab some ice cream.

 **-LineBreak-**

Kazuya had to admit, spending time surrounded by this absurd amount of beauty, was pleasant. Windy had a firm hold on his left hand, talking animatedly about how cute the little mock town was in the window. It became apparent that she'd never experienced winter, when she asked what the white stuff on the ground was.

Most of the others were closely huddled around him, even Roxanne, who wasn't bonded to him as of yet. Based on what he'd witnessed so far, she'd already come to a decision. He felt it was only appropriate to not question her about it. She would tell him herself, once she was ready. There was no dire need for her to say anything right now.

It may have been from the emotions of the girls, but he was enjoying himself. Windy, Elizabeth and Arnett were all visibly enjoying the day out, and he was able to feel that Cassandra and Lucy were having a good time as well.

Stella and Rana were having a light hearted debate on something too quietly for him to hear, but he could feel that there was no real heat in anything said, so he left it alone.

They were approaching a toy store on the left, where a little girl was peering into the window, when Kazuya noticed that Teslad was staring at something pretty hard.

 _Ice Cream…_ Her thoughts breezed through his mind.

Following her line of sight, Kazuya saw that Suna and Ouka had an ice cream cone.

 _Would you like one Teslad?_ He asked her. While her face betrayed nothing, he could feel her replying in the positive, like a mental nod almost.

 _Windy, Lucy, Cassandra? How about you, do you want an ice cream cone?_

Lucy and Windy agreed, while Cassandra denied. Being that it was still in the warmer months of the year, there were plenty of pop-up places serving the dairy delight.

"You girls want some ice cream?" He called out to the rest, only Stella had said yes.

Kazuya took a moment to walk over and peruse the flavors. He counted his situation as a plus, because he could get something each girl liked.

With two in each hand, Kazuya came back to the group. For Lucy he had blueberry, rocky road for Windy, Stella liked vanilla, and strawberry for Teslad.

He smiled at his purple haired aunt, glad that he could go something for her. With a dispassionate face, her free hand came up to his cheek, caressing it lightly.

 _You're sweet._ Teslad started, as her fingers came together to pinch his cheek, contorting Kazuya's face.

 _Remind me to suc-_ Whatever she was trying to relay to him was lost, as Kazuya felt a strange wave of emotional distress.

He staggered, turning towards the source, which happened to be Cassandra. She was standing at the window of the toy shop they'd been approaching, looking in with her hand placed on the glass.

Kazuya walked over quickly, unsure if he'd be able to help whatever was ailing her at the moment. Teslad let him go, turning her head in that direction, her other sisters doing to same.

When he came to her side, he saw that she was looking at a toy baby placed in a basket.

 _I miss you._

The thought didn't make sense to him. Who did she miss? Placing a hand over her free one, Kazuya threaded their fingers together.

 _What is it Cassandra?_

She didn't answer, as the small girl at his aunts side had started tugging on her white dress, looking up at her with the innocence only a young child could produce.

"Hey~! Pick me up, pick me up! I wanna see it!" The girl, no older than 3, maybe 4, exclaimed loudly.

Before Cassandra could do anything, Kazuya came to kneel in front of the small child, giving her a smile. Cassandra and all the other girls watching him intently, as if the next thing he did would decide his fate.

"Hello there, I'm Kazuya. You want to see something in the window?"

Nodding enthusiastically, the girl opened her arms to be picked up. Knowing that he was being watched carefully, Kazuya picked her up like she were made of glass.

Coming to stand, Kazuya shifted his hold from underneath the girls arms, to the top of her thighs and back. She was held securely, yet not in any sort of constrictive way that might hurt or frighten the child.

The girl looked into the window, towards the toy she had been eyeing. It was a stuffed dog, a rather well done depiction with its replicated fur. She leaned forward, pressing her hands and face up to the glass of the shop, looking at the toy dog like it was the answer to the meaning of life.

Kazuya smiled, remembering the times he had been so excited for something like that. It hadn't been anything material, like a toy, but time spent with his sister. She had been spending most of her time away at genetics, leaving him home alone. Whenever she came home, it always felt like the world was brighter.

Cassandra watched, as Kazuya held the girl. She wondered if he would do the same for any of his own children, if he would want to be a part of their lives. She couldn't help what happened in the past, but the future…that was another story. She looked forward to having that chance.

"Emi!" A frantic voice called from down the sidewalk, accompanied by the sound of wheels scraping the cement.

Kazuya and the girl in his arms turned, seeing a woman running towards them, her frightened eyes locked onto the two of them.

She was pushing a stroller that had seen better days. The wheels were worn, signs of being taken through various terrains apparent by the dried dirt.

"What are you doing?!" The woman almost lost her balance, in her attempts to catch up to her wayward daughter.

"I swear, this girl is always getting into trouble…" The woman huffed, taking a moment to catch her breath from the run.

"Hi mommy!" The girl, Emi, waved and laughed happily from her spot in the arms of Kazuya.

Exhaling a large breath taken in, Emi's mother gave Kazuya and Cassandra an apologetic look.

"I'm so sorry, she has a habit of running off, when I look away for even a second."

Kazuya saw that Windy was positioning herself closer to Cassandra, keeping a firm eye on her sister. The emotions of his more jovial aunt, were that of a fierce determination. He didn't understand why that was, but trusted there was a reason behind it.

"It's no problem ma'am. She only wanted to see a toy in the window." He took a few steps, to be closer to the mother.

"Come now Emi, into the stroller with you."

Emi didn't seem to like that suggestion, as she grabbed a fistful of his shirt with each hand, pressing herself into him.

"But Mommy, he's fun!"

The girls watched as Kazuya coaxed the girl from his arms, and into the stroller. He was so kind, so gentle in his approach. When he was done, the girl had clung to her mothers leg, apologizing for running off like that, before seating herself in her wheeled transport.

Rana had stars in her eyes, dreaming of the future offspring that Kazuya would one day treat in the same way. Most of the others looked on appreciatively, praising how he'd handled the situation.

Arnett was the least effected, but the scene had still lit an unwanted fire in her. She had a firm ideal, of what a good father was. Kazuya had unknowingly acted in a very similar manner to hers. While the prospect of having children of her own was something that wasn't even on her radar of future events, she would admit to herself, that Kazuya was looking like the kind of father she would want her children to have.

 **-LineBreak-**

Deep under the grounds of West Genetics, a connection rarely used before was sparked to life.

 _I miss you_

Those words, delivered with all the feeling of a mother who'd experienced unimaginable pain, only served to make her seek freedom faster.

It was slow in coming, but her small prison fashioned by her grandfather, was going through the process of releasing her.

To know that her mother was within arms reach of _him_ , the one she wanted, the one she _needed_ , drove her into jealous fits. Thrashing about did nothing, as she was encased in the strongest metal that the humans had been able to craft.

Things had diverted greatly from what they were supposed to be, and she was determined to set the record straight. At least, to a certain extent…

A harem had always been meant for Kazuya, Arcadia knew that. But these, _human_ women? No, absolutely not, Kazuya needed women of _her own_ caliber.

She wasn't sure what to feel for her mother, Cassandra. Given the circumstances, Arcadia could hardly fault her for what had happened. Her mother was meant to be given to Ryuichi, _her father_.

She scoffed at the term, some father he turned out to be. He couldn't handle the pressures of his human wife leaving this plane, and killed himself. Arcadia _hated_ the man for that. Or more specifically, doing it right in front of her sister Kazuha.

Kazuha, that's who should be one of the women with Kazuya, along with the children her aunts would have had around the same time as her own birth.

But no, Ryuichi Aoi had turned out to be flaky, spineless.

She needed to get out of this….This _hell!_

The device she laid in, was testing her, making sure that she could handle being freed. This dimension was deadly for over 75% of her being.

 _Be calm my dear. Breathe deep, and calm yourself. You will be with him soon._

Her grandmother spoke, from her spot on the other side of this man made cavern. Arcadia wanted to scream, but her voice had never been through such strenuous use before. Her vocal cords could only produce a sound that was quiet, raspy yet dainty. Her _true_ voice however, was strong, like Maria's.

 _I'm sick of waiting! I_ ** _can't!_** _I_ ** _won't!_**

Arcadia started her struggle against the metal, and the tubes once again. It was futile, and deep down she knew that.

 _Onii is_ ** _mine!_** _And yet he doesn't even know I exist!_

Her grandmother, the _true_ embodiment of a goddess, imposed her presence upon the young girl, forcefully stopping her.

 _I know this child, I do. You are too worked up to do anything more than hurt your own position at the moment. Kazuya was raised as a human, with the same principles. He will not take your advances right away._

Arcadia stopped, stuck on that thought. Raised as a human. What did that mean? Would she _never_ be able to show her brother how much she loved him physically? Even through tightly closed eyes, held behind a visor, Arcadia could feel tears building.

Kazuya didn't know who she was, didn't know the connection they had. So he wouldn't know how much she _needed_ to be with him.

 _Be calm, and you shall be freed faster. Destiny is not as iron clad as you think. Before her death, Kazuha_ ** _was_** _meant to be with Kazuya. Just as Kazuya was meant to be with any sisters he had. But things have changed, and for the better if I do say so._

The smug tone in her grandmothers voice irritated Arcadia. She knew where the Elukan was going with this.

 _Gengo has made many mistakes, but the end result may prove more beneficial to the cause that Kazuya fights for. There are more women now, then I would have predicted if Ryuichi had fulfilled his duty._

 _The struggles Kazuya has faced, have made him better suited to his role. I know you don't like the thought of sharing him with those human girls, but it will be easier for him this way._

Taking a slow, deep breath, Arcadia tried to calm herself. The results were minimal, only keeping her from continuing to thrash about in her captivity. She gave a sigh, heavily infused with the yearning her entire body carried for him.

 _I_ ** _don't_** _like it. But for him…for Onii, I can deal with it. I just…want to be with him._

A familiar rage built inside of her, as a common thought emerged in her mind. Arcadia should have been with him from the start, he should have never been made to suffer alone. But because of her grandfathers inability to truly communicate with Maria, the woman he claimed to love, she had never been given the chance to stay outside of this chamber.

She had been birthed in a controlled environment, a lab where her prison had been built. Once the cord had been cut, away she went, never to experience the light of day.

No more!

She was going to be free, and may whatever chosen deity smile and take pity on anyone who stands in her way.

It wouldn't be long now. Once she was free, she would show Kazuya how much she loved him. That she would do anything for him. Arcadia was going to show him how things should have always been. Side by side, no matter if it was school, the city, a battlefield, or lying naked on a bed.

That last thought had her rage lowering to a more tolerable level, and a smirk of less than innocent intentions spread across her face.

 **Click** ** _Hisssssss_**

A sliver of light came into her vision, making the girl squint and blink. Her visor had turned off, as a few of the tubes disconnected from her. It was almost time, and thinking of Kazuya had proven to calm her enough for the process to continue unimpeded.

 **"Project Arcadia: Status- Pending Release. Estimated time of completion- 21:48."**

The mechanical voice called out, ringing through her visor and along the walls of her confinement.

The screen of the device covering most of her vision had gone dark, so she had no idea of the current time. It was finally happening, Arcadia felt her pulse quicken in excitement. She was finally going to lay her eyes on him. It wouldn't be too much longer now.

There was only one hiccup, and that was her current form. She appeared as little girl, younger than what her age in human years actually was. It was an easy fix, but it would take time to rectify.

 _Will you help me?_

The words tasted like poison. The mere thought of asking for help from anyone but Kazuya was a blow to her pride. _Her_ , Arcadia Aoi, the war princess, needed only the assistance of one.

 _Oh? Help with what child?_

Arcadia took an elongated breath, willing herself to not retort angrily. Her grandmother was the closest one that had what she needed to solve her problem. Otherwise, she'd be taking soul energy from humans, and they had so little. To change into the appearance she desired, her soul energy had to be at a level comparable to her Aunt Lucy.

 _I will need soul energy, otherwise not only am I useless to Onii, but I will not be as physically pleasing either._

She would rather avoid having Kazuya look upon her, as if she were just a small child.

None of the women "born" from Maria Lancelot had even opened their eyes, before appearing as teenagers. The time in which they had lived mattered little, when it came to the way they appeared.

When sufficiently powered, Arcadia knew she was a woman of great beauty. The only one who could compare to her, would be her mother Cassandra.

 _That_ was how she wanted to see Kazuya for the first time. She wanted him to look upon her, and struggle with not rushing towards her, his lust nearly controlling his every action. She wanted to drive him wild.

 _Hmmm… I don't know Arcadia. It might be amusing for Kazuya to witness you change before his very eyes._

For the love of…! No, she would not lash out. Arcadia knew that her grandmother was toying with her. Fine, if Maria wanted to play this game, she would play.

 _Help me, and i'll say it._

She could feel Maria had lost her smirk, probably wondering her this was a mere ploy.

 _Truly?_

Ugh… How was it possible that _A Goddess_ had such a sentimental side?

 _Yes…Grandmother_

It was something that Maria had desired for as long as she could remember. And it was something that Arcadia had been adamant in denying. But this first meeting would be the platform to start her relationship.

Giving in to the demand, was a worthy sacrifice, when it could keep from delaying her union with Kazuya.

 **END!**

 **Yup, gonna stop it right here. I have a bit more already written, but I think i'm gonna go tweak it.**

 **Some Stella x Kazuya stuff is coming next, and I have to figure out the specifics of how to introduce Arcadia. My initial plan just felt like it was… too much too fast. So was the Roxanne part I had written.**


End file.
